SAN DIEGO – A private plane approaching an airport crashed in a San Diego neighborhood, killing the six people on board, including groundbreaking alternative music executive Dave Shapiro.
The crash stunned the heavy metal and hard rock scene that grew out of the punk movement. The music agency that Shapiro cofounded, Sound Talent Group, represented groups like Pierce The Veil, Parkway Drive and Sum 41, while also venturing into more pop acts such as Vanessa Carlton.
It could take a year to sort out exactly what happened to the plane, but investigators know there was thick fog, problems with the runway lights and a broken weather alert system, according to Dan Baker of the National Transportation Safety Board.
The pilot and passengers died, but no one on the ground was killed or seriously injured.
The dead also included a photographer and two young women just starting out in the music industry.
Here’s what to know about the victims and the crash:
Dave Shapiro
Shapiro, 42, got into music playing in a band he founded with friends while in high school, called Count with Stars.
But it was the connections he made that made him successful, more than the music he played.
Shapiro helped bring the underground $10-a-show alternative scene of the 2010s to the mainstream. He also was huge in creating a community, said Mike Shea, founder of Alternative Press Magazine.
“In this music industry, there are just too many people ripping people off and using people,” Shea said. “Dave was not like that.”
Shapiro was listed as the plane’s owner and had a pilot’s license. Officials have not said who was flying.
Kendall Fortner and Emma Huke
Fortner, 24, and Huke, 25, joined Shapiro’s agency as booking associates after graduating from college, according to bios released by Sound Talent Group, which confirmed both women were on the plane.
Fortner “was hooked on music” from a young age thanks to her father, who took her to concerts, and as a teen showed interest in pursuing it as a career.
Huke, too, knew from a young age that she wanted to work in the industry, and she worked hard to save money to attend concerts and festivals.
“There was nothing Emma loved more than live music,” the agency said.
Both Fortner and Huke were good at their jobs, which included planning tours, the agency said.
Daniel Williams
Williams was a former drummer for The Devil Wears Prada, a popular Ohio metalcore band celebrated for its ability to marry melodic punk rock with metallic detours.
When Williams “was in the band, that’s when they broke out,” Shea said.
Thomas Gutches, who manages rock bands and artists, recalled Williams’ ability to captivate audiences with his drumming.
“Daniel was putting on a show from his style of playing,” he said.
Williams’ band, which had two releases reach the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, was a client of Sound Talent Group.
Celina Marie Rose Kenyon
Kenyon, 36, was another passenger, according to the coroner’s office in San Diego. A spokesperson for Sound Talent Group said she was not an employee.
Bryan Charles Feldman, Kenyon’s father, said in a statement to AP that she was respected in her career as a professional photographer and was deeply loved by friends and family, including her daughter and her partner.
Kenyon had been traveling “to photograph and support” some longtime friends, Feldman said, and went on the late-night private flight rather than fly commercial so she could get home in time to take her daughter to school.
“The world has lost a beautiful bright light,” he said.
Dominic Christopher Damian
Also killed was 41-year-old Damian, the coroner’s office announced Saturday.
A martial arts school in San Diego, The Training Center, said via Instagram that Damian trained there. The gym is hosting an open-mat session in his memory Monday.
The crash
Headed from New Jersey to San Diego with a fueling stop in Kansas, the plane went down about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from San Diego’s Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport. Eight people on the ground were hurt, none seriously.
The Cessna 550 Citation crashed after hitting power lines, Baker said.
The pilot acknowledged to an air traffic controller that the weather was not ideal and debated diverting to a different airport, according an audio recording posted online by LiveATC.net.
Airport problems
The Federal Aviation Administration posted an official notice that the airport’s runway lights were out. The pilot did not discuss that with the controller but did say he knew the its weather alert system was not working.
“Doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go,” he told the controller.
The fog was so thick around the time of the crash that “you could barely see in front of you,” Assistant San Diego Fire Department Chief Dan Eddy said.
A challenging year for aviation
The U.S. had its deadliest plane crash in more than 23 years in January when an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter collided in Washington, killing all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.
Last month a sightseeing helicopter broke apart and crashed into the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey, killing six people.
In early February a small commuter plane crashed in western Alaska, killing all 10 people on board.
And in Philadelphia, a medical transport plane plummeted into a neighborhood shortly after takeoff in late January, killing the six people on board and two more on the ground.
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