Update: Four victims in plane crash near San Diego identified as flight nurses, pilots
EL CAJON, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - It was previously reported that investigations found four people were killed in the plane crash in El Cajon on Monday evening, and now acquaintances and authorities have confirmed that two flight nurses and two pilots were those killed.
The Learjet 35A went down in poor weather just after 7 p.m. Monday in an unincorporated area of El Cajon east of Gillespie field, where authorities said it was scheduled to land.
Acquaintances identified two of the victims as flight nurses Tina Ward and Laurie Gentz.
And then on Wednesday, the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office identified two other victims as 45-year-old Douglas James Grande and 67-year-old Julian Jorge Bugaj.
All four worked for Aeromedevac Air Ambulance.
Another Facebook posting Tuesday by the Oceanside Firefighters Association said that Ward was one of the crash victims. She was married to retired Oceanside Fire Chief Joe Ward.
The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating but didn’t immediately release any information.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service data described fog and mist at Gillespie shortly before the crash and radio communications between the jet and the airfield indicated trouble happened suddenly.
