Six killed after small plane crashes into ocean off San Diego coast

Six people on board a small plane were killed Sunday afternoon when the aircraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean shortly after taking off from San Diego International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The aircraft, a twin-engine Cessna 414, departed at 12:25 p.m. local time, bound for Phoenix. Just five minutes into the flight, the pilot issued a distress call, captured in air traffic control audio posted by LiveATC.net.

“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” the pilot shouted before reporting difficulty maintaining both heading and altitude. Air traffic control advised a diversion to Naval Air Station North Island, but contact was lost soon after.

Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange shows the plane reached a maximum altitude of only 2,100 feet before executing two left turns and disappearing from radar.

A debris field was located approximately five miles off the coast of Point Loma later that day, and search operations have continued in the area. The water where the plane went down is about 200 feet (61 meters) deep, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Weather conditions at the time were relatively stable, with visibility at 10 miles and wind speeds around 8 mph. However, a thick overcast layer was present at about 1,500 feet, according to nearby airport data analyzed by meteorologists.

The FAA reported that the plane had been registered to Optimal Health Systems, a Pima, Arizona-based supplement company, though the company clarified that it sold the aircraft to private individuals in 2023. The company’s founder, Doug Grant, confirmed he knew several people on board and offered condolences to their families.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash. The names of the victims have not yet been released.

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