The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the deadly crash of a Learjet 35A on approach to Gillespie Field on Monday night.
The executive jet carrying four people crashed in the unincorporated Bostonia area east of the airport. There were no survivors and the identities of the victims have not yet been released by the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.
However, the union representing Oceanside firefighters reported that one of the victims was Tina Ward, a flight nurse and the wife of the department’s recently retired deputy chief, Joe Ward.
“It is with heavy hearts that the Oceanside Fire Department and their fire family would like to extend our deepest condolences to our recently retired Chief Ward, his family, and all family and friends of the Aeromedevac flight crew N880Z. Chief Ward’s wife Tina, was a flight nurse on board of the aircraft that crashed last night in El Cajon,” Oceanside Firefighters Association 3736 posted Tuesday night on Instagram.
Multiple media reports indicated that the plane was operating as an air ambulance and that the victims were two pilots and two nurses.
The aircraft took off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County and crashed at 7:14 p.m. in the 1200 block of Pepper Drive. The San Diego Sheriff’s Department reported one home was damaged and power lines were knocked down in the area, but no one was hurt on the ground.
The NTSB said the Learjet was on an instrument approach to Runway 17. As the aircraft neared the airport, the pilot requested a change to a visual approach to Runway 27R.
Shortly after air traffic control had cleared the airplane to land, it crashed into the residential area about 1.4 miles from the end of the runway.
The NTSB said it has dispatched three investigators to the accident site. One investigator arrived Tuesday morning and two more were to arrive later in the day.
Updated at 11:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021