By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent, Worthy News
SAN DIEGO, USA (Worthy News) – The U.S. city of San Diego struggled Tuesday with the aftermath of a second fatal plane disaster in the area within weeks as a small aircraft crashed off the coast in the Pacific shortly after takeoff, killing all six people on board, officials said.
The twin-engine Cessna 414 came down at around 12:30 p.m. local time Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) explained.
The plane took off from San Diego International Airport at 12:24 p.m. local time en route to Phoenix and crashed minutes later, around 12:30 p.m., according to the FAA and flight tracking website FlightAware.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that searchers found a debris field later Sunday about 3 miles (about 5 kilometers) off the coast of Point Loma, a San Diego neighborhood that juts into the Pacific. The water in the search area is reportedly about 200 feet (61 meters) deep.
Despite a massive search and recovery operation involving ships and helicopter crews by multiple agencies, officials said no survivors have been found so far.
Additionally, questions remained about why the plane crashed. In moments leading up to the tragedy, air traffic control could be heard telling the pilot to gain altitude quickly. However, the pilot struggled to do so, according to recordings captured by flight traffic monitoring website LiveATC.net. The captain was heard shouting, “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” seconds before impact.
Resident Tyson Wislofsky witnessed the crash while surfing near Point Loma on Sunday afternoon.
COMING DOWN
“I saw him come down at an angle. He wasn’t flying straight to the ground,” Wislofsky told local broadcaster NBC4 News. “The next time he came out of the clouds, he went straight into the water. Full throttle.”
The FAA said the plane is owned by Optimal Health Systems, a vitamin and nutritional supplement maker based in Pima, Arizona.
However, company founder Doug Grant said that his firm sold the aircraft and transferred ownership to private individuals in 2023.
“We personally knew several of the passengers on board, and our sincerest condolences are offered to those affected by the tragedy, all of whom are incredible members of our small community,” Grant stressed in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their loved ones.”
Information on the identities of those killed was not immediately made public.
The crash comes two and a half weeks after a Cessna 550 plane crashed into a residential neighborhood in San Diego, killing all six on board and burning several homes, injuring several residents.
At least 10 homes were damaged in the May 22 crash, which also mangled dozens of vehicles and forced almost 100 people to evacuate, witnesses and authorities said.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Israel expanded its military campaign against Hezbollah on Monday, striking more than 70 targets across Lebanon as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to increase pressure on the Iranian-backed terror group following a sharp rise in drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel.
A federal appeals court is weighing whether Kansas City can use its public accommodation ordinance to require Christian counselors to counsel gay married couples despite the counselors’ biblical convictions on marriage and sexuality.
Tens of thousands of evangelical Christians gathered in the Netherlands for one of Europe’s largest multi-day Christian events, with organizers and participants expressing hopes for spiritual revival in the nation and across Europe.
President Donald Trump pushed back Monday against sharp criticism from Republicans and former administration officials over a potential U.S.-Iran agreement, insisting that any final accord must prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or it will not be signed.
President Donald Trump said Monday that countries involved in negotiations over Iran should be required to join the Abraham Accords, signaling that the White House is seeking to turn a possible Iran agreement into a wider regional realignment that includes normalization with Israel.
Tensions remained high in Serbia’s capital Belgrade on Sunday after at least tens of thousands of people demanded elections and rallied against what they view as the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Aleksandar Vučić, with violence erupting after the protest and more than 20 people arrested.
Investigations were ongoing Sunday into the killing of three senior Kuki-Thadou Christian church leaders by unidentified gunmen in India’s northeastern Manipur State, Christian investigators told Worthy News.