Four people were killed Sunday when two small planes collided in midair not far from downtown San Diego, near the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said. Temperatures in the area were near 100 degrees, officials said.
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Both planes caught fire when they hit the ground and broke apart, said Nick Schuler, a division chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Cessna went down in an open space preserve east of state Route 125, and the Sabreliner crashed west of Harvest Road.
San Diego Fire Department spokesman Lee Swanson told CNN debris was scattered about a quarter of a mile. A Chula Vista firefighter suffered heat exhaustion and was treated at a hospital, according to Cal Fire.
The crash was reported around 11 a.m. about two miles northeast of the airport, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.
An official says an Indonesian airliner carrying 54 people has lost contact over the country’s easternmost province of Papua.
NTSB, FAA and Cessna investigators were on site Monday to gather evidence and piece together what caused the fiery crash that killed five.
Sabreliner jets are used by civilians for executive travel and by the military for training flights.
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San Diego Fire-Rescue firefighters extinguished the flames at the plane wreckage within 40 minutes, but the resultant brush fire was still burning. The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a four-seat plane.
