The city on Saturday challenged allegations about a faulty data system and runway lights at the planned destination of the fatal plane crash in Murphy Canyon.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator said both the lights and a weather notification system at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport were inoperable when the Cessna 550 plowed into the neighborhood at about 3:45 a.m. Thursday.
Six people aboard the plane died instantly, which struck and severely damaged a home. Eight people on the ground suffered minor injuries, but many residents were forced to flee the ensuing fires, as jet fuel covered Salmon Street and surrounding blocks, igniting flames that consumed multiple vehicles.
The city, in responding to questions about conditions at the airport, created an “operations overview” for the facility that was posted online.
In it, San Diego officials disputed the NTSB’s assertions, while noting that the Federal Aviation Administration, under an agreement with the city, maintains responsibility both for “navigational aid facilities and approach lighting for the runway” and “weather and communication facilities.”
The city said “the airport confirm(ed) the runway lights were operational at the time of the incident,” while acknowledging that a notice cited by the NTSB regarding the lights was in effect.
That advisory, a Notice to Airmen, known as a NOTAM, is among 10 listed for the airport.
In addition, the city raised questions about the availability of weather data, which pilots obtain from the Automated Surface Observing System, or ASOS.
The airport, officials said, was not notified of an ASOS outage before the accident, and a NOTAM “was not in place for that FAA-owned equipment.”
The NTSB said the Cessna’s pilot had to rely on weather information for Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, about four miles north. The early Thursday briefing for Miramar indicated that winds were calm, with 1/2 mile visibility and a 200-foot ceiling.
But first responders on the ground following the crash, about two miles from the Montgomery-Gibbs, remarked upon heavy fog shrouding the area.
“You could barely see in front of you,” one said.
FAA records showed that the plane was registered to an Alaskan company owned by Dave Shapiro, a music industry agent who owned and co-founded the talent agency Sound Talent Group, with offices in San Diego. He was a licensed pilot.
Shapiro, 42, is one of three victims who has been officially identified by the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office. The others are Emma L. Huke, 25, and Celina Marie Rose Kenyon, 36.
The other three victims – Daniel Williams, 39, former drummer for the band The Devil Wears Prada, Kendall Fortner, 24, and San Diego resident Dominic Damian –were identified by family, friends and colleagues.
Huke and Fortner worked for Shapiro at Sound Talent Group.
The NTSB said Friday that the pilot reported no problems to air traffic control before the crash. In recorded communications with air traffic control, though, he conceded that conditions on approach to Mongomery-Gibbs were challenging.
“Doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go,” he said.
The Cessna also lacked a flight data recorder, but investigators were working to see if the plane had a cockpit voice recorder. Maintenance records indicate one may have been installed, but it was unclear if it was operational.
Anyone who witnessed the fatal crash or has video footage was asked to contact the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov.
Updated 2:10 p.m. May 24, 2025
City News Service contributed to this report.
