The fiery crash left debris and bodies scattered over more than a
mile (1.6 km) and sparked brush fires in the area where the wreckage
landed near the U.S border with Mexico, San Diego-based Cal Fire
Division Chief Nick Schuler said on Monday.
A twin-engine Sabreliner crashed with a single-engine Cessna 172 at
around 11 a.m. on Sunday some two miles (3 km) from Brown Field
Airport in San Diego County, Schuler said.
The jet was on a training mission with the U.S. Navy, National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator Andrew Swick said.
He said the Cessna pilot was practicing so-called "touch and goes,"
or fast-paced, take-offs and landings.
Four of the dead were traveling on the Sabreliner, according to the
San Diego County Medical Examiner. The fifth victim was the pilot of
the Cessna, which had no known passengers, the examiner's office
said.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Aug/18/images/ads/current/hartsburggrain_daily_sda_021115.png) BAE Systems, a British-based military contractor, on Monday named
three employees who were on the Sabreliner.
Carlos Palos, John Kovach and Jeff Percy died in the crash, along
with an unidentified contractor, the company said. A spokesman said
the three were based in Mojave, California.
"BAE Systems employees send their thoughts and prayers to the family
members and co-workers of those killed," it said in a statement. "We
are committed to supporting investigators as they work to understand
how this collision occurred."
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According to its website, the company has a shipyard in San Diego
and has contracts with the U.S. Navy to train pilots.
Debris from the collision littered a field west of the airport and
caused a 2-acre (8,000-sq meter) brush fire that was put out by
firefighters, Schuler said.
No one was injured on the ground, but a firefighter was taken to the
hospital for heat exhaustion, he said.
"It appears it was a very violent crash, as you can tell by both
aircraft being in multiple pieces," Schuler said.
The FAA and the NTSB will investigate what caused the crash, an FAA
spokesman said.
(Reporting by Marty Graham; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Sandra
Maler)
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