Crashes of 2 Small Planes Claim 7 Lives

Seven people were found dead early today in the wreckages of two private planes that went down in separate crashes about 30 miles apart in Los Angeles County, authorities said.

Rescue units from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department found five victims, including one juvenile, in the wreckage of a Piper Cherokee that crashed north of Castaic, about two miles east of Interstate 5 in Cherry Canyon, deputies said.

None of the victims was immediately identified, but the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was registered to a Santa Ana marketing firm.

A separate sheriff’s rescue team found two men, also unidentified, who died in the wreckage of a Cessna that crashed at the base of Tujunga Mountain near Gold Creek Road in the Angeles National Forest. The plane was registered to a La Crescenta resident, according to the FAA.

Emergency Signal

The Civil Air Patrol notified deputies at 9 p.m. Sunday that an emergency signal had been picked up indicating a plane might have crashed in the national forest. Dense fog prevented rescuers from reaching the site until 5:40 a.m. today, deputies said.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have not determined the cause of either crash, but officials said it was unlikely that they were related.

Sheriff’s rescue units were also busy airlifting a Redondo Beach couple from a 400-foot ledge in the Angeles National Forest where they became stranded while hiking Sunday.

Mel Clarke, 50, and his wife, Karen Erlandson, 36, told rescuers that they lost their way near the Millard Campground, north of Altadena. Neither was seriously injured.