Roger Shimizu, 45, identified as one of two fatalities in Cessna 172 crash and fire at Montgomery-Gibbs Airport

Authorities have identified Roger Shimizu, 45, as one of two people who died when a Cessna 172 crashed and caught fire at Montgomery-Gibbs Airport in San Diego's Kearny Mesa neighborhood on Monday. The medical examiner's office said fire personnel had to extinguish the blaze before retrieving Shimizu, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The second person aboard also died; that individual has not yet been publicly identified.

A preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration indicated the aircraft sustained substantial damage while attempting to land at approximately 5:21 p.m. The plane appeared to stall after its left wing dipped, then spun into the ground. It also appeared to pass through a fence, travel over two active roadways, and strike several vehicles before bursting into flames.

Witnesses told FOX 5/KUSI that the aircraft appeared to be practicing touch-and-go maneuvers, a training exercise in which a pilot lands and immediately takes off again without coming to a full stop on the runway.

Accidents during touch-and-go training expose how a routine proficiency exercise can turn catastrophic within seconds when an aircraft loses lift close to the ground, leaving little altitude or time to recover from a stall.

General aviation airports like Montgomery-Gibbs support high volumes of pattern work by flight schools and individual pilots, and a wing-drop stall on approach is among the failure modes most closely tied to airspeed and bank-angle management during that phase of flight.

The cause has not been determined, and the FAA's preliminary report will likely be followed by a more detailed investigation into the aircraft's approach speed, configuration, and the sequence that led to the stall. Identification of the second victim, along with any findings on aircraft maintenance history or pilot experience, would be the next facts to confirm the picture.