Plane Crash in San Diego

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I've always wondered why if there's a plane crash somewhere the local news agencies are not always the first to post it online but a news agency halfway around the world they're posting info about it!

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mkeRN1@reddit

Well for starters it happened at 3:45am here. Probably not many, if any, people in the studio

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TorLam@reddit

There would be a lot of people in the studio at that time, prepping for the morning broadcast programming. Most local channels have a morning program that precedes the national network morning program.

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blkav8tor2003@reddit

That explains a lot! Many of the post I saw made it seem like it happened later than that.

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macandchzconnoisseur@reddit

It was on the citizen app immediately

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Ivebeenfurthereven@reddit

Large news outlets like the BBC are all subscribed to the news wire services, which are experts at quickly establishing the neutral facts and giving them a heads up.

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JasonBob@reddit

Local news agencies are often the first to post on it. Orgs like the BBC then pick it up and spread it further. Most non-locals are getting the news from there, so they then repost those articles. If you go to local subreddits like r/sandiegan and r/sandiego you'll see the local news postings first.

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blkav8tor2003@reddit

Thanks for the info!

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Ambitious_Big_1879@reddit

BBC? Big Black Citation?

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RadamirLenin@reddit

Bro

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Ok_Onion9055@reddit

Just saw this, any news on the N#?

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PLANE_FLYER2017@reddit

Possibly N666DS.

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TastyWrongdoer6701@reddit

https://www.instagram.com/davevelocity/?hl=en

Probably the owner of N666DS

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id0ntexistanymore@reddit

I feel so sad for their 3 dogs, I always think about the animals left behind in these situations, how confusing it must be for them to never see their people again. They seemed to be great owners, the pictures show he and his wife gave them an awesome life. I hope whoever takes them keeps them together and continues the adventures 💔

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Ok-Enthusiasm4886@reddit

Was his wife also on the plane ?

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ETNevada@reddit

Also the humans in their life they left behind...

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id0ntexistanymore@reddit

Obviously. I just get upset thinking about how you can't explain to an animal what's happening or why.

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ETNevada@reddit

Completely understand, and this comes from an animal lover.

I know this is completely off-topic, but a revelation I had being 5 years without a pet after having them my entire life was how much more empathy I've gained for people. Prior, I was one of those "humans suck, animals are the best" types, but that has changed, and I'm glad for it.

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Navynuke00@reddit

Holy fuck. He used to play in a band with a good friend of mine.

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amandamaniac@reddit

It seems like he was just at Rockville in Daytona with beartooth

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Appropriate-Bar-4808@reddit

Bro check his wife’s comments on the latest post

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emveetu@reddit

Latest post where? Can you give us a little bit more direction? Thanks in advance!

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Taco_Del_Grande@reddit

All of the posts are old. What are you talking about?

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notathr0waway1@reddit

Looks about right. RIP.

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WummageSail@reddit

Retiring from base jumping seemed like a pro-safety move but thrills are a hell of a drug.

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Kirillkirillkirlll@reddit

That’s gotta be it, seems to be where flight radar stops is right at the neighborhood where the homes were on fire.

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Ok_Onion9055@reddit

Yup, found it. Privately owned.

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st_malachy@reddit

https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N666DS

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outlaw99775@reddit

Huh, registered out of Homer, AK.

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ilrosewood@reddit

Another flight from Wichita :/

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SoManyEmail@reddit

Do a lot of flights from Wichita crash, or what's the significance?

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Ataneruo@reddit

He’s referring to the DCA crash

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ilrosewood@reddit

It’s a freaky coincidence. Two in a year? It’s a weird and unnerving coincidence.

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Ordinarybutwild@reddit

"result unknown". Wow, that's disturbing to see.

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jcla@reddit

Here's the flight path of N666DS: https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a8cadf&lat=32.811&lon=-117.062&zoom=11.6&showTrace=2025-05-22&trackLabels&timestamp=1747910803

Looks like a wildly unstable approach with wild swings in the vertical speed on final (of course no indication as to why that was happening, just an observation).

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Arusen@reddit

Considering they were heading to an airport with an elevation of 427' MSL they seemed way too low way too early. A real head scratcher.

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jcla@reddit

From the fact that they tried to activate the runway lighting twice in the last moments of the flight I suspect they were focused entirely out the window hunting for the runway in the fog/cloud/night and stopped doing their instrument scan.

The pilot sounded okay on the radio calls, but I'm sure fatigue played a factor after a seven hour redeye trip across country. Will be curious if there was a second pilot on board or if it was a solo pilot shooting the approach in very marginal IMC weather.

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chasepsu@reddit

I'm working on getting my Instrument Rating right now, so this is all extremely fascinating to me. Comparing the approach chart with the ADS-B data, they were about 500ft below the glideslope (using either the ILS or RNAV approach) almost immediately after passing the final approach fix. They were only 100ft above field elevation 2 miles out from the runway. It appears that the plane was about 40 years old, so no telling what kind of avionics they had onboard, but I can't imagine there wasn't some sort of glideslope instrumentation just screaming at them that they were too low.

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jcla@reddit

It was very poor weather, with heavy fog reported in the area, 1/2 mile visibility and 200' ceiling. The tower was closed and the approach lighting for runway 28R was NOTAMed out of service. I wonder if he was hunting for the runway or even city lights in the dark fog.

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Ok_Independent3609@reddit

Good lord. What a nightmare to find yourself in as a pilot, regardless of what lead up to it. I feel for the guy and his passengers.

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Ivebeenfurthereven@reddit

disclaimer, not a pilot

At that point why not divert? You'd be justified to Mayday if fuel prevents that, right?

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winter_bluebird@reddit

I'm married to a flight instructor. Pilot should absolutely have diverted, but might not have had to based on their minimums. Pilots that fly exactly to their minimums, though, are pilots who have accidents.

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photoinebriation@reddit

It’s the runway alignment indicator lights not the runway lights that were non functional. Good to know but not a huge deal

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mav3r1ck92691@reddit

The weather alone wouldn't cause me to divert, but the weather AND no runway lights at 3:45am? Yeah I'm out of there. There are countless airports extremely close to that one that can accommodate that jet and only add a 15-20 minute car ride of inconvenience.

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Ok_Independent3609@reddit

Like most things in life, it’s going to depend on the circumstances. The NTSB investigation will look into this. A lot of people will give their opinions. At best, we might be able to say what a reasonable pilot should have done given the weather, aircraft conditions, level of pilot training and experience, etc.

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CausalDiamond@reddit

What does a quality pilot do if they cannot land at their preferred airport due to weather conditions? I assume they try another airport but what if that one has the same conditions?

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Navynuke00@reddit

KSAN would be shut down at that time due to noise restrictions, so I'd wonder what conditions were at Brown Field?

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uberklaus15@reddit

KSAN would not be shut down at that time due to noise restrictions. There is only a departure curfew, not an arrival curfew. Any aircraft can land at any hour of the day, especially in an emergency. As a matter of fact, aircraft can and sometimes do depart after the curfew, and just have to pay a fine for it.

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cheeker_sutherland@reddit

You can even land at Air Force bases but you better have a damn good reason to and state your intentions.

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uberklaus15@reddit

The one that comes to mind is this one in 1997.

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Navynuke00@reddit

You're completely right, thank you for the correction.

I'd completely forgotten about it, but now I do remember the quarterlt notices were get from the airport listing fines paid when I lived in Little Italy.

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Frostwick1@reddit

Gillespie maybe

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jcla@reddit

Conditions were similar at Brown, bouncing between 1/2 mile and 2 mile visibility with 200-300' ceilings.

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Frostwick1@reddit

You divert.

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FujitsuPolycom@reddit

28R isn't even flyable in those conditions. no? Blows away both minimums.

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jcla@reddit

Agreed. There was no weather reporting for the field at the time, though, so we can't know for sure what the actual conditions were there. Nearby KSEE was reporting those conditions at the time: METAR KSEE - Gillespie Field, San Diego/El Cajon, United States

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duggatron@reddit

Yikes, like 5000ft/min at certain points. That's wild.

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Feminist_Hugh_Hefner@reddit

Where do you see this? I threw the KML from ads-b exchange into some analysis and came back with this, wondering where you saw 5K?

Maximum climb rate: +427 ft (at 37.744508, -97.2216)
Maximum descent rate: –396 ft (at 37.74445, -97.221615)
Unusual readings (>1000 ft per sample): None detected

totally open to the idea that my analysis is flawed, just wondering if you have a time and/or location for your observation.

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jcla@reddit

Caveat: this is the raw data from ADSBExchange and needs actual verification with the FAA data.

At 10:42:18Z the vertical rate was -3584 ft/min just before the turn to final. At 10:43:25Z it finally reduced to -576 ft/min during the turn to final. At 10:44:16Z it was -1536 ft/min again. At 10:44:50Z it 0 ft/min, six seconds later back to -1024 ft/min. 10:45:30Z -1472 ft/min. 10:45:52Z -320 ft/min.

At 10:46:29Z it was back to -1792 ft/min at only 700' baro altitude. 10:46:41Z 128 ft/min climb at only 500' baro. 10:46:47Z the data stops on ADSBExchange at 500' baro and -1920 ft/min again.

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Feminist_Hugh_Hefner@reddit

I see where there is some confusing information on the ADS-B Exchange website, like when you click on the path, but when you pull the actual packets those descents/climbs are not reported, I suspect they are calculated and affected by some time/GPS jitter.

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jcla@reddit

Are you looking at ADS-B packets or KML data? Looking at FlightAware I'm seeing similar things (just less granular): Flight Track Log ✈ N666DS 22-May-2025 (KAAO-KMYF) - FlightAware

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Feminist_Hugh_Hefner@reddit

pulling lat/long/altitude from the KML data from ADSBEx. Those data fields match the records you linked (some microsecond variations in some timestamps, but not significant)

I am not clear on the methodology of the vert change, but I suspect jitter is being amplified by short measuring intervals, for example there is no way that aircraft picked up 80 knots in 0.4 seconds only to slow back down to 146 six seconds later, but the interpretation based on lat/long and timestamp reports that.

Small numbers give big errors.



1821
1822
1823
1824
1825

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jcla@reddit

I suspect something is happening in the translation to KML data. The ADS-B data should be what's being reported by the aircraft. The source of the vertical speed in the aircraft could be GNSS based or based on the barometric instruments. In this case the Altitude box in the data shows a geometric altitude, so it's getting the rate of change based on the GNSS measurements.

I don't know what segment your maximum descent rate of -396 ft was being measured on, but that is way too low even for a normal approach. Typical approaches would be around -700 ft/min, and the flightaware track log confirms over -3000 ft/min during portions of the descent, which jives with the adsbexchange raw data I gave.

Here's a good bit of detail on how some of the ADS-B data gets reported and can be interpreted: https://mode-s.org/1090mhz/content/ads-b/5-airborne-velocity.html#airborne-velocity

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Feminist_Hugh_Hefner@reddit

I fully agree that calculated data is suspect, which is why I pulled it back to what we know was sent from the aircraft (lat/long/alt/time)

The spikes also correlate to episodes of high-frequency reporting, which will magnify the inaccuracy of the data, some of this may be fickle instruments, but a lot of time it is math.

I think we are heading down a rabbit hole that I find boring and annoying...

At 10:45:19.807Z, there's a spike from 151.4 knots (\~78 m/s) to 234 knots (\~120 m/s) in 0.38 seconds, which, if true, would mean the aircraft was pulling \~11.37 g

If you think that is what was happening, I am not prepared to convince you otherwise. Maybe he hit the hyperdrive by accident, hard to say.

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jcla@reddit

> At 10:45:19.807Z, there's a spike from 151.4 knots (\~78 m/s) to 234 knots (\~120 m/s) in 0.38 seconds.

That's not in the ADSBExchange ADS-B reporting on their map view. At 10:45:19 it was reporting a groundspeed of 152 knots. The next reported data shown by ADSBExchange was at 10:45:25 with a groundspeed of 149 knots.

> If you think that is what was happening, I am not prepared to convince you otherwise

I don't think that's what was happening. You seem to think that's what was happening. The raw ADS-B messages sent 10+ times a second can have weirdness in them. I'm basing it on averaged ADS-B data shown by both ADSBExchange and FlightAware.

Here's what I do know. He didn't make the runway, and he definitely exceeded -396 ft/min in the descent that the KML data you looked at and your analysis tool shows.

The preliminary report should tell us all more.

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Feminist_Hugh_Hefner@reddit

the preliminary report will tell us MORE than some guy on Reddit with an extra set of tabs open for "research" on a rainy day? lololol I fucking hope so!

I'm glad we agree the public data is garbage.

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jcla@reddit

I've been pretty generous with you.

I can't believe a pilot or anyone with the least bit of aviation knowledge would actually believe that a plane on an approach wouldn't have a descent rate of at least 400 feet per minute. But that's been your claim, despite all clear evidence to the contrary, including the fact that the aircraft descended below the glideslope on approach and flew into terrain.

I have no idea why you've been so hostile while also being completely wrong. It's very odd behaviour. Oh well, that's what happens when people are anonymous on the internet.

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Feminist_Hugh_Hefner@reddit

I don't know who you've been chatting with, but you def mixed me up with someone else. I'm not a pilot and never made any such claim.

I'm the guy that said in my very first comment that I was open to correction, but whatever, enjoy your "win"

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Feminist_Hugh_Hefner@reddit

pulling lat/long/altitude from the KML data from ADSBEx. Those data fields match the records you linked (some microsecond variations in some timestamps, but not significant)

I am not clear on the methodology of the vert change, but I suspect jitter is being amplified by short measuring intervals, for example there is no way that aircraft picked up 80 knots in 0.4 seconds only to slow back down to 146 six seconds later, but the interpretation based on lat/long and timestamp reports that.

Small numbers give big errors.

timestamp   latitude    longitude   altitude    AGL rate\_of\_climb speed\_kts

1821 2025-05-22 10:45:15.067000+00:00 32.778036 -117.042903 640 488 -31 150.6995249328538

1822 2025-05-22 10:45:19.426000+00:00 32.779312 -117.046198 640 488 0 151.43314407936904

1823 2025-05-22 10:45:19.807000+00:00 32.779495 -117.046637 610 458 -30 233.9879256077436

1824 2025-05-22 10:45:25.426000+00:00 32.781108 -117.05075 579 427 -31 146.96273677013252

1825 2025-05-22 10:45:30.606000+00:00 32.782598 -117.054562 549 397 -30 147.66224540608366

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duggatron@reddit

I slightly overstated it with my quick mental math, but it's close to 3500ft/min, so your analysis is missing something.

10:42:07z - 7600ft 10:42:25z - 6600ft (-1000ft in 18s = 3,333ft/min) 10:42:45z - 5600ft (-1000ft in 20s = 3,000ft/min)

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oshunluvr@reddit

Honestly the descent didn't look too crazy to me. Looked like he was too high, realized it at 8500 ft or so, dove to 4500, then started bleeding speed instead. I've seen that 1000's of times.

I seriously doubt it was a major factor unless he was already behind the aircraft when he intercepted the localizer.

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rvrbly@reddit

That is a very steep descent before and after that last turn to final, but I was looking at that track over ground and thinking that the whole thing looks like autopilot straight.

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MustacheMac@reddit

That’s an insanely long flight for a C550 with a headwind.

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Bubbleheadhiker@reddit

First off, I want to thank everyone who has contributed information about this crash from perspectives of experience and knowledge. I live in El Cajon, and was walking my old GSD at about 3:45 as I do every weekday morning before I leave for work. The plane was unnervingly low, and loud, like wide open loud. There is Gillespie Fiekd about a mile north of me, and I thought that the plane was circling trying to find Gillespie (the fog was low and thick - you couldn’t see street lights on poles from the ground.). Honestly, with the pitch and reverberation shift, I swore it circled, but his final turn is tracked a few blocks south of me. I never saw his lights, due to the fog. The sound screamed northwest of me, and then just stopped. A terrain map tells me why I lost the turbine noise so suddenly, as it crossed the foothill mountains on its way to Murphy Canyon. Sounds like they didn’t get good weather info, and I can tell you that at least in El Cajon, visibility was zero.

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Successful-Ball-5071@reddit

So tired of these wannabe pilots destroying homes and hurting innocent people on the ground.

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daxxruckus@reddit

I was literally just hanging out with Dave 2 weeks ago. We bonded over pinball and we live in the same town. He invited me over to his hanger at Gillespie field to play pinball with him. I am completely shocked. He was one of the coolest dudes I have ever met.

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Only_a_Savage@reddit

He was my old manager :(

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ayediosmiooo@reddit

That's crazy, I was just looking at old pictures when I modeled for his clothing brand way back in the day, Until Industries

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daxxruckus@reddit

I am so so sorry. I'm kind of in shock because I had just been texting with him about pinball and found out we had some mutual friends. So sad.

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Only_a_Savage@reddit

Definitely a shock. The old drummer for tdwp was also on the plane

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senorrawr@reddit

big plane small plane?

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senorrawr@reddit

small plane: Small plane crashes into Murphy Canyon neighborhood, SDPD says – NBC 7 San Diego

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YoItsNickyMo@reddit

Wouldn't consider a citation a small plane

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jawshoeaw@reddit

Frequently planes are described as small under 12,500 lbs. This citation 500 can weigh less than that

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Moose135A@reddit

As compared to an airliner, it is. If they just said 'plane crash' people might think a 737 crashed into the neighborhood.

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YoItsNickyMo@reddit

Sure, but compared to a single engine prop it's a large plane. Small/medium/large are relative terms that tend to mislead the non-aviation educated public in a headline. Better to err on the side of less "panic-inducing" like they did with this headline for sure.

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GaiusFrakknBaltar@reddit

The DCA midair, the CRJ was described as a small plane as well in the initial reports.

We have to remember that the news reports are going out to people who know basically nothing about aviation. A small plane = not an airliner. That's basically the logic.

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gusterfell@reddit

Media hears Cessna and thinks 172.

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RHess19@reddit

They also consider anything smaller than a 737 to be a small plane usually

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13nobody@reddit

The smallest plane the average public interacts with is a regional jet. It's perfectly reasonable to call something smaller than that a "small plane"

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BrewCityChaserV2@reddit

You can jump up and sit on the wing of a 550 without a step ladder.

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duffismyhomie@reddit

It’s a light business jet. It’s a small plane.

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railker@reddit

Except in the FARs where a small aircraft is defined as one with a MTOW at or below 12,500lb. Looks like the 550 hits around 15,000.

All depends how you're trying to define large. 😁

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MattVarnish@reddit

Well it isnt a Medium or Heavy for wake turbulence....

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Fluxmuster@reddit

The plane crashed shortly after its flight path intersected with the high voltage transmission lines. The plane's altitude was 500 ft where it intersected. The ground elevation at that point is about 410. Those towers are tall. I wouldn't be surprised if it hit. Or they lost control trying to avoid hitting.

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Navynuke00@reddit

SDG&E reported a line cut.

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BaBaDoooooooook@reddit

rests on the shoulders of the pilot.

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Illustrious-Bar-7088@reddit

Los Angeles times reported clipped power lines

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No-Crab-1610@reddit

This Google Streetview angle illustrates this quite well I think. The intersection where the crash occurred is just beyond the crest of the canyon from this view, and yup, those power lines are tall.

Are these power lines the obstacle marked "554" on the MYR ILS card?

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chasepsu@reddit

Found the LiveATC recording. They make a 3mi final call for 28 at about the 16:15 mark and then nothing...

https://archive.liveatc.net/kmyf/KSAN-KMYF-Twr-Both-May-22-2025-1030Z.mp3

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Arusen@reddit

VasAviation ATC video. https://youtu.be/3C1RHOzJOxg

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MNSoaring@reddit

Found an interview with the supposed owner on a podcast about the music industry. Voice on both recordings sound very similar.

https://youtu.be/gGEwuGXS6M0?si=xzif0o_hGtd3-y1g

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Over-Conversation220@reddit

If it’s him, that sucks. His company manages a ton of fairly well know bands. Including some here in San Diego.

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cantstopwontstop8686@reddit

hearing it was Dave, his assistant Kendall, Pierce the Veil photographer, former drummer of The Devil Wears Prada Daniel Williams, and a couple others

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BaBaDoooooooook@reddit

they said only 2 fatalities. thats concerning.

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obtuse-melon@reddit

Do you know which photographer?

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moose-town@reddit

former drummer of The Devil Wears Prada Daniel Williams

His latest Instagram stories are of him inside the jet

https://www.instagram.com/xcadaverx/

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Bruhahah@reddit

Well, that's an unfortunate handle. Not xcadaver anymore.

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cantgrowneckbeardAMA@reddit

Fuck this hits way too close, been listening to TDWP for half my life and know of Dave and co. Damn.

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cantstopwontstop8686@reddit

damn

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signmeupdude@reddit

Damn that’s crazy if true. RIP to them and obviously RIP regardless of who it was. But its always crazy when you recognize some of the people involved

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Over-Conversation220@reddit

Yeah it’s not that I’m not hearing it. It’s that it’s not confirmed yet.

The Pierce the Veil connection is particularly sad. Vic is great dude and I’m sure this will be sad for him and the band of all true.

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Navynuke00@reddit

That definitely sounds like Dave's voice.

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blem4real_@reddit

I looked up the FAA registration, ties back to Dave Shapiro. A few of his assistants were on board too.

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xd366@reddit

can you show where you saw this?

from the tail number someone posted i saw

owner BROSSART CHRISTOPHER B

registered to DAVIATOR LLC

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blem4real_@reddit

DAVIATOR LLC is owned by Dave Shapiro.

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xd366@reddit

got it.

i looked up daviator llc in san diego lol

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ArgusRun@reddit

https://www.alaskacompanydir.com/companies/the-daviator-llc/

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ciaomeridian@reddit

He literally posted a story of him sitting in the cockpit jokingly saying "Im the Co Pilot now". Just insanity.

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dingo1018@reddit

I tried to listen, and download then listen, nothing, a silent track?

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chasepsu@reddit

Go to 16:15 in the recording and you'll hear it. This is at 3:45am local time, so there's no other radio traffic on that frequency at that time. It's only about 5 seconds of audio in a 30-minute recording.

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Over-Conversation220@reddit

Adding the link to the citizen feed for those who follow it

https://go.citizen.com/WfJho6k2zTb

I live in the next community to the north and the app has been going off all morning

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Safeway_Slayer@reddit

I used to live about a mile from the crash site but live in north county now. It’s super foggy this morning…

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Over-Conversation220@reddit

Not surprised. It’s mostly clear here now but the fog has been unusual this month.

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Ph6222@reddit (OP)

1 fatality reported so far went into some military housing

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Frostwick1@reddit

A bunch of guys I work with couldn’t get to work since the whole neighborhood is on lockdown

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Peacewind152@reddit

Unfortunately, the press briefing that ended a few minutes ago stated "multiple fatalities"

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Angeweenaa@reddit

Where did you see that at

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cietalbot@reddit

San Diego plane crash live updates: At least one dead and several homes destroyed after small plane crash - BBC News

BBC are reporting it. Saying 8 to 10 people can be carried by plane.

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Princep_Krixus@reddit

Can be carried is all I'm seeing reported. There is no confirmation of passengers on board.

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flyingbanana323@reddit

My local station just reported multiple as well :/ not good news.

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Crims0nGirl@reddit

Did it crash on a military base?

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Ph6222@reddit (OP)

No but military housing, not on a military base.

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Peacewind152@reddit

It appears there may not have been on field weather data. The reports stopped when the tower closed at 0400Z after getting a $ indication at 0000Z. A nearby airport indicated LIFR conditions of 1/2SM and 200VV. NOTAMs indicate that RAI, PAPI and ALS were out of service.

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the_micro_racer@reddit

28R's ILS and lighting overall have been intermittent for years now.

I wasn't out and about last night, but we can get some crazy dense fog around here from the day/night temperature swing and humidity, visibility down to about 50ft.

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