The pilot of a small private jet that crash landed in southern California last month and killed everyone on board, including a famous drummer, clipped a power line during landing while flying too low a preliminary report has revealed.
The Cessna 550 Citation plummeted into San Diego’s Murphy Canyon neighborhood in the early hours of May 22 as it made its final approach for Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport.
Daniel Williams, a former drummer for metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada, and famed music producer Dave Shapiro – who is believed to have been the pilot – were among the six people killed in the crash.
Several factors contributed to the fatal crash, including the poor weather conditions that Shapiro was navigating during the descent, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report released Wednesday.
The airport’s weather data system and a runway lighting system designed to guide pilots as they approach the runway were also inoperable, the NTSB report reviewed by the Daily Mail revealed.
Shapiro was flying below the minimum crossing altitude as he approached the airport. Roughly two miles away from the airport, he struck power transmission lines about 95 feet above the ground, slicing the tail of his plane and damaging the stabilizers.
The crash killed everyone aboard the jet and left eight people on the ground with minor injuries. The crash damaged one home and sent debris and jet fuel down the street, igniting 20 vehicles in flames, the report said.
The fatal plane crash comes amid a spate of aviation accidents including just last week when an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed just minutes after take-off, killing all but one of 242 people on board.
The Cessna 550 Citation, with a tail number of N666DS, took off from Teterboro Airport at 11.15pm on May 21.
It stopped for fuel in Wichita, Kansas before continuing on to California, where it ultimately crashed in the quiet military neighborhood of Murphy Cnayon – just miles away from to its intended final destination of Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport.
The pilot and all five passengers were killed. The NTSB’s preliminary report does not specifically name the pilot and has yet to definitively conclude that pilot error was to blame.
It is believed that Shapiro, a licensed pilot and owner of the doomed Cessna, was flying.
The report, does however, recount the steps the pilot took as he began his approach for the private airport.
The pilot asked air traffic control if they could assist in determining weather conditions as he flew to San Diego.
The controller gave the pilot readings for an airport located four miles north, as well as conditions at other airfields in the area, but the pilot opted to keep heading for Montgomery-Gibbs.
He discussed ‘alternate airport weather conditions’ with the controller, in case he of a ‘missed approach’, and said he would notify officials of his alternate airport selection, but ‘did not do so during the remainder of the flight,’ the NTSB report said.
Air traffic control advised Shapiro that the airport’s weather data system was out of service and the pilot confirmed he was aware, the report states.
Investigators last month attributed the issues to a power surge.
When the plane was about 10 miles northeast of a fixed approach point, the controller asked Shapiro if he was going to ‘make your descent’.
The pilot replied ‘I think we’ll be alright’ and declined vectors to the south from the controller.
Shapiro was cleared to use onboard navigation systems to guide his approach to the runway, rather than relying solely on ground-based radio navigation.
As he continued his descent, the pilot made a position call on the Montgomery-Gibbs common traffic advisory frequency stating he was three miles from the airport.
Officials then hear seven clicks of the microphone button, ‘consistent with an attempt to activate the pilot-controlled runway lighting’, the report states.
This suggests Shapiro tried to turn on the runway lights, which are different than the airport’s inoperable runway alignment indicator lights.
As he made his approach towards the airfield, Shapiro dropped below the minimum crossing altitude.
He continued to fly lower until he struck the power line and crashed, the report states.
The runway alignment indicator lights at Montgomery airport had not worked for over three years, according to the NTSB.
‘The repairs of the affected RAI lighting components and replacement of the light system have been delayed awaiting completion of an environmental study,’ the preliminary report said.
‘All other runway lighting was operable at the time of the accident.’
RAI lights serve as ‘visual rails’ for pilots during landing and are considered ‘invaluable’ during ‘poor visibility conditions’.
Information about the status of the lights had been disclosed in a notice to airmen, which pilots are meant to review before a flight.
The pilot was also based at Montgomery Field, the NTSB report adds, though it does not indicate if he was aware of the status of the lighting system.
The preliminary report also does not indicate the cause of the crash. The final report could take up to two years to complete.
Shapiro, 42, was a co-founder of Sound Talent Group, which counts artists Hanson, Sum 41, Modern Baseball and Vanessa Carlton on its roster.
Two other members of Sound Talent Group’s staff – booking assistants Emma Huke, 25, and Kendall Fortner, 24, – were also onboard.
Other victims included professional photographer and mother Celina Kenyon, 36, and 41-year-old senior software engineer Dominic Damian. He was also a martial artist and owned his own jiu-jitsu school.
Williams, 39, known for this work with The Devil Wears Prada, was also a software engineer.
