Six die after twin-engine Cessna 414 crashes into the Pacific off San Diego

# Six die after twin-engine Cessna 414 crashes into the Pacific off San Diego

Standfirst: Authorities said all six people aboard a small Cessna 414 were killed when the plane crashed off Point Loma shortly after takeoff on 2025-06-08.

A twin-engine Cessna 414 carrying six people crashed into the ocean off San Diego, killing everyone on board, according to CBS News citing the Federal Aviation Administration and Coast Guard officials. The event date was 2025-06-08, and search crews later found a debris field about five miles off Point Loma, the peninsula that extends into the Pacific west of downtown San Diego.

The plane went down around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, shortly after takeoff, the report said. Flight tracking data indicated the aircraft had flown out of Arizona and was returning to Phoenix. The crash scene lay in water about 200 feet deep, which immediately complicated recovery and search operations.

The report said the FAA stated that all six occupants were killed, though authorities had not identified them at the time. It also noted a possible ownership discrepancy: the FAA database listed the plane as owned by vitamin and supplement maker Optimal Health Systems, but the company said it had sold the aircraft to private individuals in 2023. That detail was important because it showed how aircraft registry records can lag behind real-world ownership.

More revealing than the ownership issue was the radio traffic. According to audio posted by LiveATC.net and radar data from FlightAware cited in the report, the pilot told air traffic controllers that the aircraft was having trouble maintaining heading and climb. The plane twice turned toward shore before heading back out to sea. Controllers urged the pilot to climb higher and directed him toward a nearby naval airport on Coronado Island, but he said he could not see it. Moments later, he repeated a Mayday call before radar contact was lost.

Those details suggest a fast-moving emergency unfolding in the air before the crash, but the evidence packet stops short of a cause. That distinction matters. The current record supports a timeline of distress, a turn toward and away from shore, and then loss of contact. It does not establish why the aircraft lost control.

Rescue units responded by air and sea. The Coast Guard deployed multiple crews, while San Diego Harbor Police used sonar to help locate the area. Lifeguards found an oil sheen and debris, which they turned over to Coast Guard officials. The source report also said the crash came only weeks after another deadly small-plane accident in San Diego, reinforcing public attention on aviation safety in the region.

The event date was 2025-06-08.