A small plane crashed on the runway at Montgomery Field Saturday afternoon, killing the pilot, according to San Diego Police Department Watch Commander Officer Darius Jamsetjee.
The crash was reported at around noon at the airfield located in Kearny Mesa. At the time, fire officials said the pilot was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. No one on the ground was injured and no fire or explosion was reported at the time of the crash, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said.
The plane was a Cirrus SR20, which was left heavily damaged after the crash.
The aircraft was in the air for less than an hour, having taken off from Montgomery Field at 11:33 a.m. Saturday morning, according to Flightradar24.
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First responders were able to spring into action shortly after the crash, said SDFD Battalion Chief John Fisher.
"The patient was trapped in the airplane. Units quickly extricated the patient, and he was transported to Sharp Hospital," Battalion Chief Fisher said.
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The plane is registered to Exyion Aviation in Irvine, California, according to aircraft records. First Responders said there was a response from City of San Diego and County officials because of the wreckage.
"There is fuel down on the ground and that’s why you can see response from both city and county hazmat behind me. We did respond with about 35 firefighters, which is a standard response to an aircraft down because we don’t know what we are going to find until we get there," Battalion Chief Fisher said.
Information on what caused the crash has not been released. FAA officials are investigating the crash.
No other information was available.
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