What Past Plane Crashes in San Diego Have Taught Us

In any plane crash, there are always lots of questions about why it happened.

The deadly crash in the Murphy Canyon neighborhood is no different.

And this is not the first plane crash into a neighborhood in San Diego.

In El Cajon in December of 2021. a medical transport plane caring four people crashed on approach to Gillespie Field onto Pepper Drive when it clipped a power line during on a rainy and foggy night. No one on the ground was hurt. And there is still a memorial with flags and flowers along the street at the site.

In October of that same year, 2021, a small plane with only the pilot aboard was about to land at Gillespie Field when the aircraft suddenly plunged to the ground into a Santee neighborhood, striking a UPS truck in front of a home, the vehicle bursting into flames and killing the driver along with the pilot.

And of course back in September of 1978, a PSA passenger jet collided with a small private plane and fell from the sky into a North Park neighborhood, killing _ on the two planes and _ on the ground.

Investigations determined the cause of these crashes, lessons learned and changes happened. The same will happen in the case of the Murphy Canyon crash.

But it is important to remember that flying still remains the safest form of transportation, with the number of crashes being miniscule compared to the hundreds of thousands of flights in the sky every week.

And it’s because of dedicated investigators who help keep it that way.

(Photo Getty Images)