Getty ImagesInvestigators are investigating whether the fog conditions and technical flaws at San Diego Airport, which blocked the lighting to guide the pilot, played a role in the fatal plane crash.
The Cessna 550 crashed into a residential area early Thursday, burning cars and destroying at least one home.
Authorities say all six people have been estimated to have died, including rock band The Devil Wears Prada and former drummers of famous music agents.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been examining the combination of cues and said the aircraft does not have a flight data recorder. Authorities have not yet decided which factors led to the crash.
At a press conference Friday, NTSB investigator Dan Baker said the agency was supported by the FBI.
He said investigators discovered the plane struck a high-tensile power line before it crashed into a home in the Murphy Canyon area about two miles from Montgomeryfield Airport, where the plane was headed.
The airport, a small regional airport with three runways, had experienced two separate issues during the collision, Baker said. The automatic surface observatory providing pilots with weather data was “unoperable in the event of an accident due to unrelated generation.”
At the time, fog conditions were reported throughout the region.
Baker warned that the outage was due to “some technical flaws,” but that it is unclear whether this contributed to the crash, as not all airports are equipped with the system.
The airport also submitted a notice to the pilot called Notam, informing them that one of the runways had experienced problems with the lighting system leading the landing aircraft.
The pilot of the fallen plane was heading for the runway when the crash fell, Baker said.
The pilot did not report any issues to air management and declared a state of emergency, Baker said.
The Cessna is not equipped with a flight data recorder, and officials are investigating whether it was equipped with a cockpit audio recorder.
The crash occurred around 3:45 local time (10:45 GMT), which forced the evacuation of about 100 people from a neighbourhood just northeast of San Diego city.
Eight people were injured on the ground and were taken to hospital.
The preliminary report from the NTSB is expected to be released within 30 days, with the final report being made within the next 12-24 months.
Victims include Sum 41 Agent and Drummer
So far, four out of six names have been released when the flight crashed.
Emma Houk, 25, and Kendall Fortner, 24, have been named by their employer, Sound Talent Group, as they are on planes.
Fortner “is a party life and illuminated the room she entered,” the company said in a statement Friday.
Huke was “a beautiful soul that brought joy and light to all of her beings.”
The company previously confirmed the death of Dave Shapiro, a prominent music agent who co-founded its co-founder. Shapiro worked with rock groups such as Sum 41, Story of the Year, Parkway Drive and singer Vanessa Carlton.
According to the airline Velocity Aviation, he was also an avid pilot and a certified flight instructor with 15 years of experience.
Former The Devil Wears Prada Drummer Daniel Williams was also killed in the crash, members of the group were confirmed in a tribute posted online.
According to the San Diego Union Tribune, a few hours before the crash, he sat in the airplane cockpit with images of himself and Shapiro.
Williams was a founding member of the Devil Wear Prada and part of the Christian Metal Band for over a decade before saying goodbye to 2016.
The band posted a series of photos of Williams on Instagram, showing him on a drumstick, flying on an aircraft, showing various moments with fellow bandmates.
“There are no words. We owe you everything,” the post reads. “Love you forever.”
