Blog / Airplane Accidents / 2 injured as small plane crash-lands near La Mesa church

2 injured as small plane crash-lands near La Mesa church

Publish Date: 2023/07/10

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA — Two men were hospitalized Sunday afternoon after a small plane crashed near Lake Murray Community Church in La Mesa, according to ABC10 News.

Members of the Heartland Fire & Rescue Department were dispatched to the scene behind the church, located at 5777 Lake Murray Boulevard, at around 3:06 p.m.

A preliminary investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration indicates the involved aircraft is a single-engine Cessna 185 that had departed from Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego.

It was not immediately clear what led to the plane’s trouble, but the pilot was able to crash-land the aircraft in the church’s parking lot, an area of relative safety, sparing nearby apartment buildings and houses. Though the plane slammed through a chain-link fence and traveled down a hill, both occupants, men in their 50s, survived the wreck.

One man was able to walk up the hill with assistance from responding crews. First responders had to use a stretcher and a rope-and-pulley system to rescue the other victim. Both patients were transported to Sharp Grossmont Hospital with injuries considered moderate.

No one else was reported hurt.

According to Heartland Fire & Rescue, the emergency response was carried out in around 40 minutes with help from multiple other area agencies, including American Medical Response, San Diego Fire, and La Mesa Police Department.

An investigation will be conducted by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

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Ross Jurewitz

Ross Ross Jurewitz is the founder and managing lawyer of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego personal injury attorney law firm. These San Diego injury accident lawyers specialize in helping people seriously injured in a variety of accidents throughout San Diego County and California.