The music agency, Sound Talent Group, announced that three of its staff members lost their lives in the plane crash. Among them was David Shapiro, the agency’s co-founder, who resided in El Cajon.
SAN DIEGO — New information has surfaced regarding the plane’s owner and its intended passengers following a crash that impacted several homes in Tierrasanta early Thursday morning.
According to records obtained by CBS 8, the plane carried the tail number N666DS. It is identified as a Cessna Citation constructed in 1985 and is registered to Daviator LLC, an Alaska-based limited liability company situated in Homer, which is over 200 miles south of Anchorage.
Daviator LLC’s sole employee and manager is David Shapiro. Public records show Shapiro, 42, runs an aviation business in El Cajon and owns a home near San Carlos. According to the FAA, Shapiro has been a certified flight instructor since 2010, with his license based in Alaska.
In a statement to the Associated Press, the music agency Sound Talent Group said three of its employees died in the crash, including Shapiro, the agency’s co-founder.
Sound Talent Group has represented artists including Hanson, Sum 41 and Vanessa Carlton, AP reported.
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.
According to Shapiro’s public records, he is a music executive and now owns record label Velocity Records. The record label includes popular hardcore bands Thursday and D.R.U.G.S.
Former The Devil Wears Prada drummer Daniel Williams posted three Instagram stories roughly eight hours before the crash, including a photo with the plane with the same tail number of N666DS to Instagram and tagged Shapiro in a post saying “Flying back with @davevelocity.”
Williams posted a second photo shortly after inside the cockpit with the caption, “Hey. Hey… you… look at me… … I’m the (co)pilot now.”
His third post, which features him in the cockpit with a steering wheel in front of him, with the caption, “Here we goooooo.”
He made no further posts after this.
It is unclear who was piloting the plane when it crashed.
CBS 8 called the phone number listed for Shapiro but the call went to voicemail.
Police said the incident happened around 4 a.m. in the area of Sample and Salmon Street. At least 15 homes were affected by the crash, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
San Diego Fire-Rescue said multiple injuries were reported, but no one who lived in the area had been transported to the hospital.
SDFD has evacuated multiple neighborhoods around the impacted area. The department is working to go through every home the plane had impacted, to assess the damage and ensure no one was hurt. SDFD said the impacted homes were military housing. Police said close to 100 people were displaced due to the evacuations.
