4 Unhurt After Jumping From Plane Just Before It Crashes Off Catalina
Two men and two women escaped injury Sunday by jumping into the water just before their single-engine plane crashed into the sea off Santa Catalina Island Isthmus.
Pilot Ronald Warner, 38, of Westminster said he had just taken off from the mountaintop Airport in the Sky on Catalina, en route to Torrance, when his Piper Comanche developed engine trouble.
He said he was trying to reach an emergency airstrip at the isthmus, but lacked sufficient altitude and told his passengers, Tim Nehrling, 40, Connie Fox, 38, and Sandra Ewell, 27, to put on life jackets and jump as the airplane neared the water.
The airplane sank in 120 feet of water about 30 feet from shore, and all aboard were plucked from the sea by a patrol boat operated by the concessionaire at the isthmus and were reported in good condition.
Warner said efforts will be made today to locate and raise the airplane.
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