Two people died Monday evening when a Cessna Skyhawk crashed and burst into flames on the runway at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego.
Eyewitnesses captured video of the incident, which occurred around dusk. The aircraft, identified as a Cessna 172, appeared to gain elevation before suddenly nosediving onto the runway, according to preliminary reports.
Mauricio Godinez and Melizza Cardiel Godinez were in a nearby hangar when they heard the crash. "We heard this loud boom. She peeks out, she tells me a plane crashed," Godinez told ABC 10. "I peek outside, and yes, a plane definitely crashed."
Video footage shows intense flames engulfing the small plane. Cardiel approached the wreckage but retreated, stating, "The flames was just too much. If we would have gotten in there, we would have gotten burned ourselves."
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were on scene Tuesday examining the wreckage. An initial FAA report indicated that the crash occurred as the pilot was attempting to land. The report stated that the left wing dipped, and the aircraft "appeared to stall and spun into the ground."
The identities of the two deceased have not yet been released. The NTSB investigation is expected to take several weeks.
This incident follows a separate fatal plane crash in Fresno two days prior, where a flight instructor, her husband, and their two sons died when their aircraft crashed near Sierra Sky Park Airport.