SAN DIEGO – Two small planes collided midair while approaching an airport in southern San Diego County on Sunday, killing five people and sparking brush fires in a remote field where the wreckage landed, authorities said.
The collision occurred around 11 a.m. PDT about 2 miles northeast of Brown Field Municipal Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
Both planes – a twin-engine Sabreliner jet and a single-engine Cessna 172 – were approaching Brown Field, Gregor said.
The Sabreliner carrying four people was registered to military contractor BAE Systems, which said in a statement that its employees were aboard the aircraft.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Andrew Swick told KNSD-TV the pilot of the Cessna was on a cross-country trip.