SAN DIEGO — Five people escaped uninjured on Saturday when a corporate jet they were in crashed upon takeoff at the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in Kearny Mesa, fire officials said.
At 11:47 a.m. Saturday, the jet hit the dirt at the end of the runway and lost its wheels, said Battalion Chief Matt Nilsen of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
The fire department said the private jet was loaded down with 3,400 gallons of fuel when the jet experienced a malfunction causing the pilots to abort the take off.
All five people on board got off the jet with no injuries reported, Nilsen said. Fire units arrived at the airport at 3799 John J. Montgomery Drive at 11:54 a.m.
“There were two pilots, one air crew member and two passengers,” said Craig Newell, San Diego Fire Rescue Battalion Chief.
Newell says crews have secured the area where the crash took place and will be working to safely to get the plane out of the airport.
“We’re going to syphon the fuel out of the plane to reduce the chance of explosion or fire, and then the private companies will take care of removing the plane from the airfield,” Newell said.
A total of 37 fire personnel were assigned to the crash, including an airport crash rig, two hazmat teams, two fire engines, a medic and two battalion chiefs, according to a fire incident log.
The Chief also told CBS 8 that the plane was headed to Hawaii and he believes that their lives were saved because they were following safety guidelines.
There are still a lot of questions to be answered about this crash and the Chief says it could be days before the investigation is completed.