Details of Flight a Mystery : 2 Die as Plane Crashes Into Sea Off Newport

The bodies of a man and a woman, still strapped to their seats, were found in the submerged wreckage of a two-seat plane that plunged into the sea early Tuesday near the Newport Beach Pier.

The pilot was identified as Richard Michael Brownell, 27, a self-employed landscaper from Anaheim. It could not be determined late Tuesday whether he was a licensed pilot. His passenger had not been positively identified, but sources said she was believed to be an Orange County resident in her 20s.

Destination Unknown

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department and National Transportation Safety Board investigators said they were still trying to determine where the plane was traveling from and its destination.

However, the owner of the plane, Bert Lilly of Seal Beach, said Tuesday that the single-engine Cessna 152 had been tied down at John Wayne Airport and leased by a group of pilots calling themselves the Flying Club, of which Lilly is a member. He said about 40% of the club’s members work for McDonnell Douglas Corp.

He said that the plane had not been scheduled to be flown early Tuesday and that Brownell was not a member of the club. There was a possibility that the unidentified dead woman was a club member, he said, but because she was riding passenger, it was considered remote.

Spotted by Fishermen

“I’m looking at our membership list, and (Brownell) is not a member,” Lilly said. “Only members can get the key . . . . He had to get in the plane illegally or have gotten the key from somebody.”

A half-dozen fishermen standing on the Newport Beach Pier reported seeing the small plane pass about 10 feet overhead, authorities said, before it twisted sharply, dipped, then crashed right wing first into the ocean about 2 a.m. Witnesses said the engine sounded as though it was running properly right up until it crashed.

Seconds after the plane hit the water, two witnesses told investigators, they heard a “muffled explosion.” The running lights on the tail wing could still be seen as the Cessna sank into the sea about a quarter-mile offshore and a few hundred yards from the pier, Sheriff’s Lt. Dick Olson said.

“When it hit, white water flew up in the air, and then we heard the impact of it hitting water,” said one witness, 22-year-old Scott Townsend of Pomona. He was strolling back toward the beach with two friends when they watched with disbelief as the plane approached.

One of the fishermen called Newport Beach police at 2:07 a.m. and reported the crash, Olson said, and the Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol sent two boats out to investigate.

Debris Found

Within the next 15 minutes, deputies in the rescue boats homed in on two oil slicks and quickly discovered the plane’s strut--its landing gear with wheel still attached--and carpeting and plastic material that appeared to belong to an aircraft bobbing near the surface, Olson said.

A buoy was placed in the water to mark the site while deputies continued to comb the area for more of the wreckage. But fog prevented the Harbor Patrol and Newport Beach lifeguard divers from entering the murky, 58-degree water until visibility improved, about 7:30 a.m., Olson said.

Ten minutes later, the fuselage was located on the ocean floor in about 47 feet of water, lying belly up and crumpled, its passengers still strapped to their seats, Olson said.

Most of the plane’s right wing was found about 30 yards away, and one door and the propeller were torn off, Olson said.

The bodies were removed from the aircraft and placed in litters, he said, then covered with plastic and ferried to shore in a patrol boat. Autopsies to determine exact cause of death were scheduled for today.

Investigators found no identification on either victim, nor in the wreckage, authorities said, but Brownell was identified late Tuesday through fingerprint checks.

Kenneth Warta, a 17-year-old fast-food cook from La Mirada, was fishing at the pier with a friend when he saw the Cessna with lights onapproach and then pass overhead.

“The plane landed in the water,” he said, “and I could see the lights until it went under.”

By nightfall Tuesday, the fuselage remained on the sea floor, awaiting determination of whom it belonged to and who was responsible for paying to have it fished out. Authorities apparently had not been able to reach Lilly, who was at work all day and learned of the crash from a reporter 16 hours later.

“It was kind of a shocker,” Lilly said.

Times staff writer Marcida Dodson contributed to this story.