The investigation into the crash of a private jet into a Murphy Canyon neighborhood early Thursday morning is expected to include the pilot's radio communication and the operation of the control tower at the Montgomery Field airport.
According to reports, the plane left Teterboro, New Jersey on Wednesday. It stopped in Wichita, Kan., where it refueled before leaving on the three-hour flight to San Diego.
The San Diego Union Tribune reports that Montgomery Field did not file a weather report Thursday morning according to the National Weather Service. KOGO News aired the audio of the automated weather observation report that pilots tune into over the air traffic control frequency. The information was “missing” or “not available” according to radio traffic before the crash.
As the plane approached the San Diego region, the pilot asked for the weather report out of Montgomery-Gibbs. The air traffic controller for Southern California Approach responded, in audio recorded by LiveATC.net, that the automated weather report at that field was out of service.
The pilot asked again a few minutes later, saying he had checked the conditions at Gillespie Field in El Cajon.
“I just wanted to know if you had any idea on the weather. I got the Gillespie weather, but as I’m sure you know, sometimes it can be dramatically different between Gillespie and Montgomery,” the pilot told the controller. “According to Gillespie, it’s pretty much down to minimum, so I just want to see what I’m in for here.”
“Alright, uh, doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go,” the pilot responded. He then asked about the conditions at Brown Field in Otay Mesa, just in case. The pilot’s reaction to those conditions: “Not a great option either.”
The pilot continued to head for Montgomery-Gibbs. Around 3:45 a.m., the pilot announced over the Montgomery-Gibbs tower frequency that the plane was about 3 miles away on final approach.
(Photo Getty Images)