The pilot of the small plane that plunged into a Murphy Canyon neighborhood did not seem alarmed prior to the crash, investigators said Friday, but could have been hampered by a lack of information from a key system meant to assist those in the air.
That’s according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which has been on scene since Thursday afternoon, hours after the Cessna 550 crashed near Salmon and Sample streets, killing at least five aboard.
Dan Baker, from the NTSB, offered an update on the investigation during a Friday press briefing, explaining that his team was examining data from two sources, including communications with air traffic control.
“The pilot did not report any problems to air traffic control and he did not declare an emergency,” said Baker.
Though officials have not confirmed the number of those killed, a music agency, Sound Talent Group, said Thursday that three employees of the firm, including co-founder Dave Shapiro, died in the crash. He was also a pilot.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Shapiro’s death Friday, and identified two other victims.
They are Emma L. Huke, 25, and Celina Marie Rose Kenyon, 36. Their causes of death were listed as multiple blunt force injuries. Shapiro’s cause of death was not released.
Though the ME’s office did not release his name, musician Daniel Williams had posted photos of the Cessna that crashed on social media Wednesday, and on Thursday members of the band The Devil Wears Prada mourned his loss.
In addition, Huke and another woman yet to be named by authorities, Kendall Fortner, 24, were the other employees of Sound Talent Group who perished. They worked as booking associates with the agency. NBC San Diego named a sixth victim, Dominic Damian, a software engineer and friend of Shapiro’s.
The group was returning to San Diego after a band Shapio managed, Pierce The Veil, played for a sold-out audience at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Teams on the ground continue to work to find more information about others who may have been on the aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration, though, said six people were traveling on the Cessna, which was en route to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport after departing New Jersey late Wednesday.
“The number and identities” of those on board are being determined by local authorities, Baker said.
The crash and the ensuing fire caused chaos for residents, who were forced to flee in the early morning hours Thursday as flames heavily damaged one home and destroyed – even melted – multiple vehicles. Yet most on the ground escaped unscathed, with only eight minor injuries reported.
The fire destroyed the remains of the aircraft, which ended up on Sample Street.
The NTSB, meanwhile, has identified weather data and lighting systems, which typically help guide pilots, that were down at the time of the 3:47 a.m. crash.
The automated surface observing system – or ASOS, which provides airport weather conditions to flights – was inoperative at Montgomery-Gibbs, Baker said, “due to an unrelated power surge.”
Air traffic control instead provided the pilot with conditions for Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, about four miles to the north. The weather briefing for Miramar, Baker said, indicated that winds were calm, with 1/2 mile visibility and a 200-foot ceiling.
Authorities on Thursday said Murphy Canyon was blanketed by heavy fog at the time of the crash.
In addition, notices for pilots, known as NOTAMS, were in effect for a runway at Montgomery-Gibbs, Baker said. They indicated that both an approach path indicator and light system were out of service for runway 28R. It’s not known if the pilot had checked it.
The pilot acknowledged the weather conditions for landing were not ideal, according to audio of the conversation posted by LiveATC.net. He debated diverting to a different airport while discussing the visibility with an air traffic controller at a regional FAA control tower.
He didn’t discuss the lights being out with the controller, but was aware that the weather alert system was inoperable. Ultimately, the pilot is heard saying that he’ll stick with the plan to land at Montgomery-Gibbs.
“Doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go,” he told the air traffic controller.
Fragments of the plane were found under power lines about a half block from the homes. The Cessna also lost a wing on a road behind the residences. The crash scene is about 2 miles from the airport.
The Cessna did not have a flight data recorder, Baker said, but investigators believe it might have been equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, based on a review of maintenance records.
NTSB teams plan to remain on scene for two or three more days, before transferring the wreckage of the Cessna to a secure facility where it will be available for further examination.
Baker said debris recovery began Friday. The full investigation into the crash could take up to two years, he added, but a preliminary report is expected within a month.
Updated 6:55 p.m. May 23, 2025
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
