Small Plane Crashes Into San Diego Neighborhood, Setting Home and Cars on Fire

A plane has crashed in a residential area in California.

Pictures shared on social media show a huge fire in the middle of a residential street.

The crash happened shortly before 4am local time (11am GMT) in the Murphy Canyon neighbourhood of San Diego.

The local police department said in a statement on Instagram: ‘We’re responding to a plane crash in the area of Sculpin Street and Santo Road.

‘Please avoid the area to allow emergency crews to work safely.

‘More information will be shared as it becomes available.’

Chief Dan Eddy from the San Diego Fire Department told reporters at the scene that 15 homes have been damaged by the crash.

Firefighters are in the process of searching several homes across four blocks to ensure all residents have been evacuated after a wide area was doused in jet fuel.

Chief Eddy added that at the time of the crash, there was ‘very dense fog’ and you could ‘barely see in front of you’, and when they arrived on scene ‘multiple cars’ were on fire.

All fires have now been put out, he added, saying their priority is now to ensure all residents in neighbouring properties are safely evacuated.

The plane can carry up to eight people, but the FAA said ‘the number of people on board is unknown at this time’.

The FAA said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation.

There have been a number of plane crashes in the US in recent weeks, raising concerns about aviation safety.

On January 29, an American Airlines jet and a US Army helicopter collided in the air over Washington DC. Two days later, a medical jet carrying six people including a sick child nosedived into a residential street in Philadelphia.

More recently a private jet flying from New York crashed in Mexico, and four people died after a plane struck power lines and crashed into a road in Illinois.