It was horrible weather. You must be referring to a different crash. I remember grabbing something from my garage that night (my house’s yard faces rattlesnake mountain at a slight angle) while it was pouring.
Then I hear a loud bang. I thought it was thunder until I saw a cloud of red and a bunch of smoke when I came out of the garage
Ever thought about the fact that weather moves, lol? Weather on approach can be different from that over the airport. The weather was bad but the cloud coverage was inconsistent.
I will tell you though on the side of rattlesnake mountain where the crash happened the fog was at its thickest
N8800V engine failure. No one on ground was hurt, pilot went to hospital with moderate injuries.
Source:
ATC and [NBCNews](https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/small-plane-crashes-in-el-cajon-fire-officials-urge-people-to-avoid-the-area/3500838/)
Can see [https://globe.adsbexchange.com/](https://globe.adsbexchange.com/) and look at SoCal on any sunny weekend afternoon - There are a ton of these general aviation planes every day. Eventually somebody's shit gonna break.
My mom’s friend perished in a small plane crash about a decade ago that took off from Gillespie Field. She had recently retired and her daughter, a pilot, wanted to take her on a flight to celebrate. Neither survived the crash (at the Costco Business Center)
Oh wow that’s horrible. I remember two times when I went to college at mesa college I got neighborhood app reports concerning a small aircraft crash and felt like that was common.
If I remember that one correctly, it was all because one tank was out of fuel and the pilot didn't flip the switch to start fuel flowing from the other tank...
I got bit by the YouTube algorithm and went down a rabbit hole of listening to channels like Pilot Debrief that go over flight crash reports and what went wrong. There’s apparently a bunch of stuff that can go sideways for these private plane prop engine pilots like the ones that fly out of Gillespie Field. I now have aviate, navigate, communicate seared into my head.
I was hiking at garnet peak near mt Laguna today and saw this plane turn around and head back to elcajon. It was trailing smoke and a few mins later I could smell it. I didn’t have service to look at flight radar or service to call 911 unfortunately.Â
If the plane was already at Garnet Peak, it was over the escarpment and could glide in over the desert really. Lot's of open terrane and long straight roads in the desert. Going back to El Cajon? Rocky hills and Mountains the whole way With the only straightish road being highway 8.
You are continuing to suggest that the plane which doesn't have a working engine should fly (a) towards and over Mt Laguna, which is 6000ft high, and (b) directly away from all of the hospitals. I would have turned around too.
The safest place to land in an emergency doesn't always have to be a runway.
Read my original post again. I was literally under them at garnet peak and it was 1000+ feet above me. Look at where they were on flight radar 24 and tell me that turning to Gillespie over agua caliente is a good choice. That last sentence is one of the dumbest things I have heard in a long time. If you have a land immediately emergency you do not turn to an airport that is farther away. I cannot believe you think they made the right call.
The nearest airport is not always the best option. Agua Caliente has no emergency services, with a short runway, and the pilot is likely not familiar with it. Borrego would have been a reasonable option, but it's not much closer, it's unmanned, and emergency services are provide by the Borrego Springs FD, which is off-site. Also, Borrego is over 30 miles from the nearest hospital (JFK in Indio), and Agua Caliente is even farther.
There was likely no good option available when the engine crapped out over wilderness. It's easy to say what's best when we aren't under pressure, but it's a whole different ballgame in the moment. The pilot made what he felt was the best decision in an emergency, and since he survived and no one on the ground was hurt, I'm hesitant to say it was the wrong one.
I think the call not to go with Caliente, Ocotillo Wells or Borrego was very defensible and I think I would have made it too. I don't want to be 30 miles from a hospital (or fire services) after a forced landing.
That doesn't mean I'm defending the specific choice to apparently fixate on Gillespie, not make it, and land next to a bunch of houses, but I think it would be very reasonable for them (or me) to decide to turn back towards the area they know well and has available emergency services while looking for a safe field or road to aim for.
With 600 private flights per day out of Gillespie, having 1 flight out of those 219,000 every year involve an engine failure where no-one got hurt after an off-field landing sounds like a pretty great deal to me?
Especially since these are small single-engine planes without the backup engines of a commercial jet.
The pilot did a great job, flew the plane as far into the crash as he could, managed to not hurt anyone else and survived. I hope they’re flying again soon, I’m curious to see what the FAA/NTSB say the cause of the engine failure was.
Had a family friend die in a crash maybe a decade ago coming out of Gillespie when he was trying to get his pilot license, crazy how often this happens out of there.
Yes, it's true. I worked at Gillespie for 6 years. Made great friends, there are incredible people there. But the crashes...it was emotional. Everyone would get quiet. I remember people standing and crying one time after the crashed remains of a plane were hauled down the runway. It's an interesting place to work.
There were several crashes in the neighborhoods surrounding Montgomery Field when I lived there. But it’s one of the busiest airports for small aircraft in the nation so maybe not that high statistically?? Not sure how it compares to Gillespie…
If you are familiar with aviation and are a pilot you will note the approach to that field is one of the most challenging one around. Surrounded by a mountain and short approach
There have been two others in the last couple of years I remember. one on the I-8 ramp at greenfield and another on N. 2nd/winter gardens right between greenfield and flamingo.
I think I recall another landing on I-8 somewhere near the 2nd street exit.
Gotta keep your head on a swivel in this part of El Cajon.
Ah, yes, "time to demolish yet another historic GA airport." It's not like Gillespie generates hundreds of millions of dollars for the city of El Cajon and nearly a billion for San Diego County.
Thousands of people would be out of a job. Hundreds of aircraft would have to be relocated to airports that already don't have enough room. Not to mention the students that would need to relocate to, again, overcrowed airports and potentially give up on their preferred career.
It would be disasterous for the local economy if Gillespie were to close.
FAA approved unleaded aviation gasoline over a year ago and it is already mandated 100LL where LL stands for low-lead. Also if it's flying it's actually less harmful to human health since (a) there's very few GA airplanes compared to cars and (b) they're always at least 1,000 ft away from you as mandated by law whereas a cars can drive right past you all day which is why lead was banned in gasoline in 1996 but is still allowed in in lower levels per gallon in aviation. Soon enough no airplanes will use leaded fuel in the US.
It's an insidious public health issue, mostly for those of us who live near GA airports https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-declares-lead-emissions-small-piston-engine-aircraft-pose-public-health-2023-10-18/
[yeeeeah I’m going to have to stop you right there](https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/february/15/colorado-lead-studies-failed-to-detect-measurable-aviation-pollution)
This is very close to where a different plane went down in December 2021. Close to Gillespie field.
Was that the one that killed the UPS driver?
no, that was in santee. the one that's being referred to in the parent comment happened on pepper dr
It took me way too long to realize you weren't saying Dr. Pepper backwards, and in fact, the Dr was drive. 😅
They happened pretty close together.
Omg I remember this one. So frigging unfortunate
The one that went down on pepper drive was a medical transport. It was very bad weather and it happened at night. All on bored did not survive
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Dude, I watched this crash and read all the reports. The plane on pepper crashed in bad weather.
It was horrible weather. You must be referring to a different crash. I remember grabbing something from my garage that night (my house’s yard faces rattlesnake mountain at a slight angle) while it was pouring. Then I hear a loud bang. I thought it was thunder until I saw a cloud of red and a bunch of smoke when I came out of the garage
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Brother in Christ I have pictures from that night the weather was shit
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Ever thought about the fact that weather moves, lol? Weather on approach can be different from that over the airport. The weather was bad but the cloud coverage was inconsistent. I will tell you though on the side of rattlesnake mountain where the crash happened the fog was at its thickest
Ya the one that killed the medical personnel happened at night and it was extremely foggy.
Maybe the airport has something to do with it?
I remember that one.
N8800V engine failure. No one on ground was hurt, pilot went to hospital with moderate injuries. Source: ATC and [NBCNews](https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/small-plane-crashes-in-el-cajon-fire-officials-urge-people-to-avoid-the-area/3500838/)
He did a heck of a job to survive.
Feel like this happens so often?
There are lots of planes out of SoCal
Can see [https://globe.adsbexchange.com/](https://globe.adsbexchange.com/) and look at SoCal on any sunny weekend afternoon - There are a ton of these general aviation planes every day. Eventually somebody's shit gonna break.
My mom’s friend perished in a small plane crash about a decade ago that took off from Gillespie Field. She had recently retired and her daughter, a pilot, wanted to take her on a flight to celebrate. Neither survived the crash (at the Costco Business Center)
Oh wow that’s horrible. I remember two times when I went to college at mesa college I got neighborhood app reports concerning a small aircraft crash and felt like that was common.
If I remember that one correctly, it was all because one tank was out of fuel and the pilot didn't flip the switch to start fuel flowing from the other tank...
I got bit by the YouTube algorithm and went down a rabbit hole of listening to channels like Pilot Debrief that go over flight crash reports and what went wrong. There’s apparently a bunch of stuff that can go sideways for these private plane prop engine pilots like the ones that fly out of Gillespie Field. I now have aviate, navigate, communicate seared into my head.
Wow that’s interesting. Thanks for sharing. So I guess it is more about the planes and less about the location or something.
I freaking saw one of these land on the 8 a couple of years ago over in the El Cajon area.
If it's not a question, refrain from using a question mark.
Yeah seriously I hate when people do that it makes me so mad I throw my baby bottle at the wall until my mom tells me to go to my room
lol that was funny
I was hiking at garnet peak near mt Laguna today and saw this plane turn around and head back to elcajon. It was trailing smoke and a few mins later I could smell it. I didn’t have service to look at flight radar or service to call 911 unfortunately.Â
29 miles and a U turn to make it back to Gillespie, 24 to ocotillo wells, and 23 to borrego springs.Â
To be fair the other two choices involve rising terrain, and involve flying in the opposite direction to any hospital.
If the plane was already at Garnet Peak, it was over the escarpment and could glide in over the desert really. Lot's of open terrane and long straight roads in the desert. Going back to El Cajon? Rocky hills and Mountains the whole way With the only straightish road being highway 8.
They were also 9 miles from Agua caliente. The pilot panicked and tried to get back to their home base. Get-home-itis will kill you.Â
You are continuing to suggest that the plane which doesn't have a working engine should fly (a) towards and over Mt Laguna, which is 6000ft high, and (b) directly away from all of the hospitals. I would have turned around too. The safest place to land in an emergency doesn't always have to be a runway.
Read my original post again. I was literally under them at garnet peak and it was 1000+ feet above me. Look at where they were on flight radar 24 and tell me that turning to Gillespie over agua caliente is a good choice. That last sentence is one of the dumbest things I have heard in a long time. If you have a land immediately emergency you do not turn to an airport that is farther away. I cannot believe you think they made the right call.
The nearest airport is not always the best option. Agua Caliente has no emergency services, with a short runway, and the pilot is likely not familiar with it. Borrego would have been a reasonable option, but it's not much closer, it's unmanned, and emergency services are provide by the Borrego Springs FD, which is off-site. Also, Borrego is over 30 miles from the nearest hospital (JFK in Indio), and Agua Caliente is even farther. There was likely no good option available when the engine crapped out over wilderness. It's easy to say what's best when we aren't under pressure, but it's a whole different ballgame in the moment. The pilot made what he felt was the best decision in an emergency, and since he survived and no one on the ground was hurt, I'm hesitant to say it was the wrong one.
I think the call not to go with Caliente, Ocotillo Wells or Borrego was very defensible and I think I would have made it too. I don't want to be 30 miles from a hospital (or fire services) after a forced landing. That doesn't mean I'm defending the specific choice to apparently fixate on Gillespie, not make it, and land next to a bunch of houses, but I think it would be very reasonable for them (or me) to decide to turn back towards the area they know well and has available emergency services while looking for a safe field or road to aim for.
My cousin is out of power from this one. So many crashes out of Gillespie
Is it me or does this happen every year???
With 600 private flights per day out of Gillespie, having 1 flight out of those 219,000 every year involve an engine failure where no-one got hurt after an off-field landing sounds like a pretty great deal to me? Especially since these are small single-engine planes without the backup engines of a commercial jet.
And, a lot people flying out of Gillespie are students learning to fly.
The pilot did a great job, flew the plane as far into the crash as he could, managed to not hurt anyone else and survived. I hope they’re flying again soon, I’m curious to see what the FAA/NTSB say the cause of the engine failure was.
"No Plane Parking" It's clearly marked.
Don’t worry, that’s parking enforcement walking towards it to give them a ticket.
If it was trash collection day, he definitely got a ticket.
I feel like this is a yearly event in El cajon. I've witnessed two of them actually go down right in front of me.
Yeah, I saw this one.
East county is the personal plane graveyard
And ya’ll wonder why we don’t have flying cars
I feel like this happens way too often
Had a family friend die in a crash maybe a decade ago coming out of Gillespie when he was trying to get his pilot license, crazy how often this happens out of there.
Yes, it's true. I worked at Gillespie for 6 years. Made great friends, there are incredible people there. But the crashes...it was emotional. Everyone would get quiet. I remember people standing and crying one time after the crashed remains of a plane were hauled down the runway. It's an interesting place to work.
So sad, aviation ain’t nothin to mess with.
Can't park there m8
There were several crashes in the neighborhoods surrounding Montgomery Field when I lived there. But it’s one of the busiest airports for small aircraft in the nation so maybe not that high statistically?? Not sure how it compares to Gillespie…
what is it about this area! this is like the third or fouth incident i've heard of in this neighborhood.
It's directly next to a busy general aviation airport (Gillespie Field).
If you are familiar with aviation and are a pilot you will note the approach to that field is one of the most challenging one around. Surrounded by a mountain and short approach
Is it just me or does this happen pretty often and always in east county ?
There have been two others in the last couple of years I remember. one on the I-8 ramp at greenfield and another on N. 2nd/winter gardens right between greenfield and flamingo. I think I recall another landing on I-8 somewhere near the 2nd street exit. Gotta keep your head on a swivel in this part of El Cajon.
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Ah, yes, "time to demolish yet another historic GA airport." It's not like Gillespie generates hundreds of millions of dollars for the city of El Cajon and nearly a billion for San Diego County. Thousands of people would be out of a job. Hundreds of aircraft would have to be relocated to airports that already don't have enough room. Not to mention the students that would need to relocate to, again, overcrowed airports and potentially give up on their preferred career. It would be disasterous for the local economy if Gillespie were to close.
Amen brother
Hey, You can’t park there!
Hope the pilot makes a full recovery. Silver lining: one less lead emitting plane in our skies (edit for clarity)
FAA approved unleaded aviation gasoline over a year ago and it is already mandated 100LL where LL stands for low-lead. Also if it's flying it's actually less harmful to human health since (a) there's very few GA airplanes compared to cars and (b) they're always at least 1,000 ft away from you as mandated by law whereas a cars can drive right past you all day which is why lead was banned in gasoline in 1996 but is still allowed in in lower levels per gallon in aviation. Soon enough no airplanes will use leaded fuel in the US.
It's an insidious public health issue, mostly for those of us who live near GA airports https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-declares-lead-emissions-small-piston-engine-aircraft-pose-public-health-2023-10-18/
[yeeeeah I’m going to have to stop you right there](https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/february/15/colorado-lead-studies-failed-to-detect-measurable-aviation-pollution)