SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – It’s hard to believe that it’s been one year since the deadly plane crash in a military housing community in Murphy Canyon.
“Every now and then I'll be outside, you know, just watching the kids play or in my garage, and you hear the planes,” Gilbert Gonzalez, a neighbor, said. “It shoots back images.”
ABC 10News has spoken to Gonzalez at different times following the plane crash on May 22nd, 2025, that happened in the military housing community.
We caught up with him prior to the one-year anniversary about what memories he still remembers from that unbelievable morning.
“Just seeing the flames in that morning and hearing kind of those cries for help. There's this panic and chaos,” Gonzalez said. “Still replay it in my head. I can probably remember the whole thing.”
Six people on board the plane died in the crash, eight were injured on the ground, and hundreds were evacuated from their homes.
“We still acknowledge and recognize, you know, those lives that were on that plane that night,” Gonzalez said.
Some needed help in the moments after the crash, including Gonzalez’s neighbors.
“I can hear, Ben, one of, you know, our neighbors right here,” Gonzalez said. “And I can still hear him, kind of crying out, you know, wondering what's going on. We both ran up and, he, we started, you know, getting the kids over the fence.”
Gonzalez rushed to help his fellow neighbors in need.
“Thinking quick, running, and grabbing my ladder,” Gonzalez said. “Taking it back and throwing it over, making a little ‘A’ on the fence.”
Gonzalez, a member of the U.S. Navy, used the ladder to get them out and away from the fire to safety.
“They put us through a lot of stressful drills, and scenarios, and situations to test our reactions. And I think now that I think about it, if anything ever happened again, I can depend on the neighbors to jump into action if need be,” Gonzalez said.
Hanging in Gonzalez’s garage is the same ladder he used to jump into action.
“Every time I do walk out here, I do see it. I use it, but it is still a ladder that I'm pretty sure I'll probably keep for a long time.” Gonzalez said.“But it is a reminder, whether it's, you know, good or bad. I see it. I understand what it's used for, but I understood what it was used for that morning.”
After what he did that morning, Gonzalez was honored by different groups like the Red Cross, the San Diego Padres, and State Assemblymember Chris Ward.
“I'm not a hero. What I did that morning, it was just kind of reactive and we jumped in and, and we tried to help our community, so we were just doing what we needed to do, just being decent human beings,” Gonzalez said.
It’s hard to forget what this street looked like on the day and those immediately following the crash. A year later, the street’s seemingly back to normal.
Gonzalez told ABC 10News he and his family have moved past May 22nd, 2025, for the most part. But, there’s still a reminder or two from that day.
“I think we're still kind of reminded day by day. I mean, we still live in the path of the planes flying over, all times of the day and night,” Gonzalez.
And there’s one home still being rebuilt.
“No one's living there, of course, uh, but that's kind of the only reminder that we get every time we drive up and down this street,” Gonzalez said.
