LA JOLLA, Calif. (KGTV) — One person has died in a plane crash in La Jolla, and multiple agencies had been searching for the Cessna all night. Only one person was on board the plane, and the San Diego Police Department said the FAA told them it flew in from Murrieta.
Witnesses reported a low-flying plane Wednesday night. SDPD confirmed the pilot called for help and was running out of gas around 9:35 p.m. Emergency officials tried to divert the plane to Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa.
The person who called police about the plane was a neighbor in La Jolla who saw reports of the search for the Cessna. They saw the lights on the plane go down near some condos in the La Jolla Shores Heights neighborhood.
According to the plane's tail number, the aircraft was a 1979 Cessna P210N.
The FAA confirmed the pilot was the only person on board. ABC 10News found records of the plane's registration showing who it is registered to; however, it's unclear at this point if it's the same person who was flying the plane.
The circumstances surrounding the crash are still under investigation.
Residents of the La Jolla Shores Heights neighborhood came out Thursday morning to see the plane crash off of Caminito Viva, and they were speechless.
Many told ABC 10News that they did not hear a crash last night.
Ryan Krasner who lives in the neighborhood said, "I can't comprehend that. No one in the neighborhood heard it."
Krasner also was in shock to see the plane's position on the side of the hill, directly across from his home.
"It's amazing that it didn't collapse or crash into anyone's home," Krasner said. "You don't think this is ever going to happen. It's a freak accident. I'm just thankful nothing happened to anyone else in the complex."
His neighbor, Lisa Blumenfeld, also couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"It just seems a little odd, given the topography of this complex," Blumenfeld said.
Blumenfeld said that her and her son noticed something coming home after 9 p.m. Wednesday night.
"We just saw this red, flashing light up there, and we looked at each other and didn't think much about it," Blumenfeld said.
Blumenfeld's other son, Avi, also noticed signs of the crash Wednesday night.
"I'm just sitting at my computer and out of the corner of my eye, I see that red light too, and I'm like, 'What is that?,'" Blumenfeld said.
Both the FAA and medical examiner were at the scene of the crash Thursday morning.
SDPD also added that the National Transportation Safety Board would be handling the investigation into the crash.
This is a breaking news story. Stay with ABC 10News for developments.
EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story referenced FlightAware radar tracking data to indicate the plane had originally left from Concord in Northern California. San Diego police later said it flew in from Murrieta, according to the FAA. ABC 10News is working to verify the plane's initial flight path.
