SAN DIEGO – The music agency Sound Talent Group said Thursday that three of its employees, including co-founder Dave Shapiro, died on the private plane that crashed into a San Diego neighborhood.
Shapiro is listed as the owner of the plane and has a pilot’s license, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Shapiro also owned a flight school called Velocity Aviation and a record label, Velocity Records, according to his LinkedIn page.
The agency didn’t share the names of the other two employees who died.
“We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends. Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today’s tragedy,” the agency said in a statement.
Sound Talent Group has represented artists including Hanson, Sum 41 and Vanessa Carlton.
San Diego authorities earlier said two people had died. The National Transportation Safety Board now says the total number of fatalities is unknown, but the plane could hold as many as 10 people.
The private jet crashed early Thursday into a neighborhood of U.S. Navy-owned housing in San Diego during foggy weather, igniting at least one home and numerous vehicles parked on the street. The plane clipped power lines before slamming into the house, said Elliot Simpson with the NTSB.
Several people were injured while trying to flee as flames raced down a single street after the crash just before 4 a.m. in the Murphy Canyon, the largest neighborhood of Navy-owned housing in the country. Others were treated for smoke inhalation, authorities said.
AP
