The eerie pictures ‘co-pilot’ posted just hours before plane crashed into quiet neighbourhood

Late on Wednesday night, a famous drummer and five other people were tragically killed when a small plane crashed into a quiet neighbourhood in San Diego, California.

After taking off at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, plane N666DS touched down at Colonel James Jabara Airport to refuel before continuing on to its destination in San Diego. Though it’s yet to be revealed why the plane crashed, it came down into the US military’s largest housing neighbourhood, allegedly killing everyone on board and injuring others. A family of five are being treated for smoke inhalation, another for injuries they sustained during an attempted escape, and many others for minor injuries at the scene.

“I can’t quite put words to describe what the scene looks like, but with the jet fuel going down the street, and everything on fire all at once, it was pretty horrific to see,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

On board the flight was Daniel Williams, the drummer of The Devil Wears Prada, music agent and pilot Dave Shapiro, and several employees connected to the Sound Talent Group.

Hours before the San Diego plane crash, the drummer posted pictures on Instagram

In posts that are no longer available on Daniel Williams’ Instagram, the drummer showcased the plane just hours before it plummeted into the quiet neighbourhood in San Diego. The first showed the plane on the runway alongside the caption, “flying back with @Davevelocity.”

It looks like Daniel Williams, former drummer for The Devil Wears Prada, was on board the plane that crashed in San Diego this morning. Absolutely heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/Roc5zx78rE

— Cody Hanlon (@CodyLNG) May 22, 2025

In another post, which Yahoo reported was posted to his story, Daniel was in the cockpit of the plane as he celebrated in the caption: “Hey. Hey…you…Look at me. “I’m the (co)pilot now.”

The third and final post was also in the cockpit with the caption, “Here we goooo.”

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People close to those onboard the San Diego flight have been reacting to the crash, with Dave Shapiro’s friend telling the MailOnline: “Dave changed mine and a lot of other people’s lives and the community he built and the network of bands he has worked with and supported will never forget him. Daniel left us a lot of music to remember him by and he was a super sweet guy.”

“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,” a statement from the Sound Talent Group confirmed. ‘Thank you so much for respecting their privacy at this time.”

Reports claim there was broken metal littering the street, melted trash cans, and jet fuel flowing down the road. More information is expected to follow soon, including an official report of those tragically killed.

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Featured image credit: CAROLINE BREHMAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock