Update: Two Cessna's Collide Near Gillespie Field

Last Updated:
02-09-06 at 12:31AM

Investigators are looking into why two planes collided near Gillespie
Field in El Cajon Wednesday, sending fiery debris crashing to the
ground over a nearby park and homes and killing three people.

The two aircraft collided in mid-air at 4:40 p.m. and crashed at the
El Cajon-La Mesa boundary near Fletcher Hills, according to officials.

Monica Zech, a spokeswoman for the city of El Cajon, confirmed that
three people were killed when the planes collided.

A spokesperson from the Scandinavian Aviation Academy confirmed one of
the planes - a 172 RG experimental Cessna aircraft - was from their
school. The spokesperson also confirmed that a flight instructor and
student were killed on the SAA plane. The flight instructor apparently
had a fiancee who has been notified. The identity of the instructor
and the student have not been released.

Both planes reported to have originated from Gillespie Field.

The El Cajon Fire Department reports the second plane is a 182 Cessna.
Not a helicopter as witnesses and some officials first thought.