Fullerton Family Feared Lost in Ocean Plane Crash
A Coast Guard cutter found a wing tip, a seat and personal belongings in the ocean Thursday, and searchers said they are certain that the debris is from a plane carrying three people from Fullerton.
The Coast Guard identified them as Rick Mathews, 56, his wife, Pat, and their daughter, Susan.
Barbara Abels of the Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane, with Rick Mathews as pilot, took off from the Fullerton Airport Wednesday bound for San Diego and began an instrument approach toward San Diego’s Lindbergh Field about 6 p.m.
Air traffic controllers here said the instrument approach was necessary because of a layer of haze 300 to 500 feet thick.
The pilot aborted his approach and started to circle, but he then informed controllers that he was returning to Fullerton, Abels said.
Both radar and radio contact with the plane was lost about eight miles off San Diego, Abels said. The debris was found about five miles off the coast.
The Coast Guard in Long Beach dispatched a cutter Wednesday night, and Coast Guard helicopters from San Diego joined the search at daybreak Thursday in hopes of finding survivors.
But when darkness fell Thursday, the Coast Guard suspended its search, reporting no trace of survivors.
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