Many of the military families who evacuated after a private jet crashed into their Murphy Canyon neighborhood a week ago — killing the pilot and five passengers on board — were expected to be allowed back into their homes Thursday, authorities said.
Thirty-nine families had been displaced by the fiery crash, which damaged 10 four-plex buildings along Sample Street. Of those families, 35 were expected to be given the green light to move back into their homes, although 15 opted to be placed somewhere else in the area, said Liberty Military Housing CEO Philip J. Rizzo.
Rizzo said one building, on the corner of Sample and Salmon streets, had been red-tagged. That four-plex suffered almost a direct hit by the Cessna 550 Citation II after it clipped a transmission line about 120 feet high while on approach to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport around 3:45 a.m. on May 22.
The jet hit Ben McCarty’s pickup, parked on Salmon, before it slammed into his home, a lucky break he said blunted the force of the crashing plane and likely saved his family’s lives. A neighboring unit in the building had smoke damage. Rizzo said the company, which owns and manages the military housing, likely will repair and renovate the structure.
The National Traffic Safety Board is investigating the crash, which occurred in thick fog. The plane departed from Teterboro, N.J., then stopped in Wichita, Kan., before heading to San Diego. NTSB investigators completed their on-scene work on Saturday and moved the plane’s wreckage to a facility in Arizona to be examined further, an agency spokesperson said.
Back in Murphy Canyon, workers were busy all week cleaning up the site, assessing damage and making repairs. A backhoe dug up and replaced contaminated soil from yards where jet fuel had spilled. Siding on at least one of the homes had melted in the heat of the fire. A half dozen broken windows were replaced, as were six or seven broken doors. Officials think the doors were broken by firefighters as they were checking to make sure everyone had evacuated.
Twenty cars were destroyed, many of which were ignited by jet fuel that leaked from the plane and caught fire as it flowed down Sample Street.
Somehow, only a handful of people on the ground suffered minor injuries in the crash.
Liberty Military Housing doesn’t have an estimate as to how much damage the crash caused. “It is way too early to say what the number is going to be,” Rizzo said.
Liberty owns 17,000 military homes in San Diego County, both on and off bases, as part of a public-private venture. The company is one of more than a dozen that partnered with the military under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, which was authorized by Congress in 1996.
The MHPI program allowed private companies to bid to operate and maintain housing communities at more than 150 military installations, with the federal government retaining ownership of the land. At Murphy Canyon and elsewhere, the company signed long-term ground leases with the government, while it entered into individual leases with military members who live in the housing.
A couple of military families have launched online fundraising efforts on the GoFundMe site to solicit donations, including the McCarty family. The family lost two vehicles and all their possessions and didn’t have renter’s insurance.
The family of Nichole Crone is hoping to raise $10,000 to replace a family car because their insurance company “isn’t offering enough to pay off what is owed, let alone assisting in obtaining a replacement vehicle,” according to the campaign.
Fundraisers also have been set up to assist families of some of the victims killed in the crash. One will benefit the 11-year-old daughter of photographer Celina Kenyon. Another honors the life and legacy of 41-year-old Dominic Damian, who friends said recently opened his own jiu-jitsu school in San Diego. Another was set up to assist the fiancée of Daniel Williams, a former drummer for Ohio metal band The Devil Wears Prada who became a software engineer.
Other victims in the crash included music agent and pilot David Shapiro, 42, who owned the plane; Emma Huke, 25, who worked as a booking associate for Sound Talent Group; and Kendall Fortner, 24, who also worked as a booking associate.
Rizzo said several nonprofit organizations and companies stepped up to help families who lost vehicles and belongings. Families attending a meeting Wednesday were told of resources that were available. The Navy also was providing a per diem to service members displaced by the crash, he said.
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