Divers Find 2 Bodies From Calif. Plane Collision

Small planes collided just outside LA Harbor
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 8, 2016 1:01 AM CST
Divers Find 2 Bodies From Calif. Plane Collision
Divers aboard two rescue boats search for wreckage from two small planes that collided in midair and plunged into the ocean off of Los Angeles Harbor on Friday.   (KABC-TV via AP)

Two bodies and the wreckage of a small plane were found Sunday by divers searching in the water off Southern California for evidence following a midair collision believed to have killed three people, authorities say. Divers made the discovery about 100 feet below the surface, in an area about 2 miles off Los Angeles Harbor, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Capt. Jack Ewell said in a statement. Investigators from the coroner's office will identify the victims, and divers will resume the search Monday morning, he said. A massive search was launched Friday after a plane piloted by a 72-year-old woman was seen on radar colliding with an aircraft carrying men ages 61 and 81 off San Pedro, just outside the harbor.

The plane carrying the men was a Beech 35 Bonanza and the second was a Citabria, according to the FAA. Authorities have not released any identities, but the woman's husband identified her as Mary Falstrom of Torrance. Richard Falstrom says his wife, a longtime pilot, told him Friday that she was going on a plane ride to enjoy the sunny weather. Hours later came the news of the collision. Richard Falstrom believes his wife died doing something that gave her great joy. "She loved flying. It was a passion," he tells the AP. His wife was a member of The Ninety-Nines Inc., an international organization of women pilots, and he says she volunteered at the Western Museum of Flight at Torrance Airport, from which she and the other plane took off Friday. (More California stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X