Music Agent Dave Shapiro Dies at 42 in Fatal San Diego Plane Crash — Details
A quiet California neighborhood turned into a crash site Thursday morning, May 22, after a jet dropped from the sky, claiming the life of a top music agent and five others.
Among those killed was Dave Shapiro, a prominent music agent and co-founder of Sound Talent Group. He was one of six people aboard the Cessna 550 that crashed into San Diego’s Tierrasanta neighborhood.
The aircraft went down around 3:45 a.m. after clipping power lines roughly two miles from Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport. The jet crashed into a residential community, igniting fires and scattering debris across several blocks. There were no survivors.
As reported by CNN, the wreckage stretched at least a quarter mile, with jet fuel raining down and setting vehicles ablaze. Several homes were damaged, including one where the roof collapsed onto a car.
Eliott Simpson, a senior aviation accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said, “There are fragments of the aircraft under the power lines.”
As first reported by Billboard, Shapiro, 42, was traveling with two Sound Talent Group employees. The company has not released their names while family notifications are underway. Billboard also confirmed the jet was a 1985 Cessna Citation and that other passengers aboard have not yet been publicly identified.
Sound Talent Group released a statement expressing their grief, “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. Thank you so much for respecting their privacy at this time.”
