SAN DIEGO (AP) — Three people are dead Sunday following the midair collision and crash of two small planes near an airport in southern San Diego County, authorities said.
The collision occurred around 11 a.m. about 2 miles northeast of Brown Field Municipal Airport, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.
Three fatalities were reported, Sheriff’s Lt. Jim Bolwerk said. He did not have details on the victims but said they were apparently on board the planes. There were no reports of injuries on the ground.
Both planes — a twin-engine Sabreliner and a single-engine Cessna 172 — were inbound to Brown Field at the time of the crash, Gregor said.
Crews extinguished small fires sparked in dry brush at the crash site in a rural area, Bolwerk said.
Brown Field, a former Naval auxiliary air station, is in the Otay Mesa area about 15 miles southeast of downtown San Diego, near the border with Mexico.
