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Questions After Santee Small Aircraft Crash
Update: UPS has identified the driver as Steve Krueger, who worked for the company for thirty years. This is according to NBC San Diego.
Second update. The air traffic control audio is on YouTube
Living near an approach corridor to an airport always has risks. For the neighbors in Santee who lived at Green Castle and Jeremy, this is now a nightmare. Their lives changed in an instant, as a Cessna six-seater came down from the sky in a fiery crash. According to neighbors and video, there was a large fireball.
It could have been worse. The quick action of neighbors meant that the elderly couple in the corner house was extricated. Though I fear the dog did not make it. The elderly woman kept asking about her dog. They both were taken to UCSD medical center by ground ambulance, reportedly conscious and alert, with burns. UCSD is the regional burn center, so that was not surprising. Reportedly one of the two elderly people was burned in her face.
We went to the scene for East County Magazine. I will say this. It could have been far worse. While this crash happened in an urban area, it was very windy, so the response with three full companies, at least two Urban Search and Rescue teams, and San Diego Fire HazMat 1 was hardly surprising. It was the winds we were concerned about with the potential to…