SAN DIEGO — At least two people are dead and eight others injured when a small plane crashed in Southern California, impacting more than a dozen homes and vehicles in a military housing neighborhood, authorities said.

A Cessna 550 crashed near Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego at about 3:45 a.m. local time on May 22, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. Six people were on board the plane at the time of the incident.

"At this time, there have been two confirmed fatalities who appear to have been in the aircraft, though the exact number of deceased is still being determined," the San Diego Police Department said in a statement to USA TODAY.

Emergency personnel immediately responded to the scene, extinguishing multiple fires and assisting residents with evacuations, police said. Authorities also searched through homes in the area to look for additional potential victims and to mitigate any remaining hazards.

Eight people on the ground were injured after the crash, according to police. Two people were treated for minor injuries and released at the scene, and six others received medical attention.

Eliott Simpson, senior aviation accident investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the plane departed from Teterboro, New Jersey, at about 11:15 p.m. on May 21 and flew to Wichita, Kansas. The plane made a fueling stop in Wichita before flying to San Diego, according to Simpson.

"(The plane) struck power lines about two miles southeast of the airport, then collided with a house," Simpson said at a news conference, adding that NTSB investigators will be investigating the incident.

The morning crash damaged multiple homes and splattered jet fuel along streets in Tierrasanta, a neighborhood located about 10 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. The neighborhood is home to a large military community.

In a separate news conference, local officials said it was surprising that the loss of life was not greater. About 100 people were evacuated from their homes in the neighborhood.

"It’s a little bit of a miracle that they got out," of the house that was destroyed, San Diego Fire-Rescue Assistant Chief Dan Eddy said, praising the military families who helped their neighbors escape the burning houses.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the crash. USA TODAY has reached out to the NTSB for comment.

Reports: Music agency says employees died in the crash

The music agency Sound Talent Group said three of its employees, including co-founder Dave Shapiro, died in the crash, the Associated Press, NBC News, and Billboard reported. The agency did not identify the other two employees who died.

"We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues, and friends. Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today’s tragedy," the agency said in a statement to media outlets.

Citing FAA records, the AP reported that Shapiro was listed as the owner of the plane involved in the crash and had a pilot’s license. Shapiro's LinkedIn page also showed his pilot license and that he owned a flight school called Velocity Aviation.

Sound Talent Group, founded in 2018, is an independent music agency, according to its website. The agency represents over 400 artists and has offices in New York City, Nashville, and San Diego.

The agency did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on May 22.

'Your house is on fire!'

Sophia Ruiz-Gonzalez was visiting family in Orange County when her husband called her from Florida, frantic. He had been woken by alerts on his home's ring camera − neighbors were ringing the doorbell and shouting: "Your house is on fire."

Ruiz-Gonzalez, who lives a block downhill from where the plane crashed, said neighbors described a rivulet of fire running down the street gutter and setting car after car on fire. Fuel from the airplane spread the impact of the crash across this tight-knit military neighborhood.

"The side of our house was on fire, It melted our gate," Ruiz-Gonzalez said. “The fuel just ran down the street.”

The crash site itself still smelled of acrid smoke by noon, and a crowd of about 40 film crews had gathered around the charred remains of a home and several cars. Representatives of the San Diego Fire Department, San Diego Police Department, and the military described evacuating the scene, putting out fires, and evacuating homes.

Plane crashes into military housing neighborhood

The Cessna 550 went down about 3:45 a.m. local time, the FAA said. The first call came in at 3:47 a.m., Eddy said.

The plane, whose route originated in the Midwest, was bound for San Diego, according to Eddy. The plane crashed off Santo Road near Sculpin Street, the San Diego Police Department posted on X.

The area is near the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport, and the tract where the crash occurred is managed by Liberty Military Housing, officials confirmed.

There was dense fog in the area as responders arrived on the scene, Eddy noted. At least one home was fully involved, he added, and firefighters went house to house to ensure everyone was out before turning their attention to cars that caught fire.

By late afternoon on May 22, police said evacuations remained in effect. Several road closures were still in place as the NTSB conducted their investigation.

Police advised residents who discover debris, aircraft parts, or jet fuel on or near their property to contact the NTSB.

Plane crash sparks fires at roughly 15 homes

Multiple homes were hit directly by the plane, Eddy said, and the crash caused about 15 homes to catch fire, as well as multiple vehicles. There was a wide debris field for investigators to work, and families in the neighborhood "may be out of their homes for a while."

"I just walked it myself, and down the street itself, it looks like something from a movie," Eddy told reporters. He said hazmat teams also responded.

"We have jet fuel all over the place," Eddy said. "And we’ve asked for more resources to come for that."

Multiple crews remained on scene and were expected to be in the area for 24 hours, Eddy said. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said more than 50 police officers responded to the scene to evacuate homes, lock down streets, and search for survivors.

"I can't quite put words to describe what this scene looks like with the jet fuel going down the street and everything on fire at once," Wahl said.

Naval Base San Diego Commanding Officer Captain Bob Heely said the neighborhood is one of the largest military housing bases in the world. Heely said he was working with Liberty Military Housing and the Red Cross to provide temporary housing to the affected families.

"We are actively working with all military families affected, specifically within this region, because they may be out of their homes for a while," Heely said.

Tierrasanta plane crash causes schools to close

San Diego Unified School Police confirmed the crash closed Hancock Elementary and Miller Elementary for the day. Miller is where authorities had set up an evacuation site for families whose homes were damaged or destroyed.

Both schools are less than a mile from the crash site.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Jet fuel all over': At least 2 dead after small plane crashed into San Diego neighborhood

Reporting by Natalie Neysa Alund, Jeanine Santucci, Phaedra Trethan, Will Carless and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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