Death Toll Up to 5 in Mid-Air Collision

An investigation was underway today into a mid-air collision near Otay Mesa that left five men dead.

A twin-engine Sabreliner carrying four people and a single-engine Cessna 172 with no passengers aboard collided on approach to Brown Field Municipal Airport shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

None of the victims’ identities had been confirmed as of this morning, but officials with the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office said investigators believed two were civilian pilots of the military-contracted Sabreliner, two others were civilian technicians aboard the plane and the other was the Cessna’s pilot.

The Cessna’s pilot was on a cross-country trip and the Sabreliner jet was leased by BAE Systems, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Cessna went down in an open space preserve east of state Route 125, and the Sabreliner crashed west of Harvest Road.

The collision sparked several small fires and left a field near the R.J. Donovan Correction Center littered with pieces of aircraft.

Firefighters from San Diego, Chula Vista and Cal Fire worked on the crash aftermath and rash of brush fires. A Chula Vista firefighter suffered heat exhaustion and was treated at a hospital, according to Cal Fire.

--City News Service