The Press-Telegram is reporting the names of two people who were likely involved in the mid-air collision between two small planes on Monday afternoon, over Pacific Ocean waters just south of the Long Beach Harbor. Another person was thought to have been aboard but has not been identified. Click here to read the P-T story by Kelly Puente and Phillip Zonkel.
Both small aircraft were flying in a known training zone over the water, and both departed from the Long Beach Airport. Click here to see an example of a Cessna 310P, and here to see an example of a Cessna 172N (the two aircraft that were involved).
Sadly, the Coast Guard has called off the search for survivors, report Puente and Zonkel:
On Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended the multiagency search for survivors. Several helicopters and an armada of rescue and patrol boats found no signs of life, and the operation is now classified as a recovery effort, said Coast Guard Capt. Paul Wiedenhoft.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, one of the agencies involved in the initial search and rescue, will continue to search underwater for plane wreckage and recover debris.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor