A UPS driver making a delivery on the block was killed in the fiery crash, along with the pilot, who is believed to have become disoriented or suffered a medical crisis in the cockpit. Brave neighbors rushed to save a couple as their home burned down.
The debris field in a San Diego neighborhood extends a full city block following the fiery crash of a private plane. But the death toll might have been higher if not for the brave efforts of some neighborhood heroes.
The horror began when a twin-engine plane crashed as it was coming in for a landing. The pilot, a doctor, was believed to have become disoriented or suffered a medical crisis in the cockpit.
A UPS driver making a delivery on the block was killed after his truck ignited in the crash. The pilot also died.
Courageous neighbors were seen leaping into action, helping one woman through the window of her fiery home. Her pants were in shreds and her hair was scorched in the disaster. One rescuer pulled down a backyard fence, and they also helped the woman's husband to safety.
Inside Edition was there as the neighbors — Alison Ray, Michael Keely and Amanda Nelson — got big hugs from Jim Slaff, the grateful son of the couple they saved.
“You've got tears in your eyes,” Inside Edition chief correspondent Jim Moret said to Slaff.
“I mean, it's a natural reaction to being around people who, you know, saved you from being an orphan,” Slaff said.
The injured couple is currently in intensive care in the local hospital's burn unit.