Ditched Plane Off Catalina : Passengers Praise Poise of Their Pilot

As their plane took off from Santa Catalina Island on Easter Sunday, pilot Ron Warner, 38, and his three passengers knew immediately that something was wrong.

“As soon as we lifted up, the engine lurched,” passenger Tim Nehrling, 41, said in a telephone interview Monday from his Westminster home. “It made us nervous. Ron looked at me, radioed to the airport tower we were in trouble and banked hard right.”

Instead of a safe return flight to Torrance, Warner, described as a veteran pilot who also lives in Westminster, was forced to ditch his disabled aircraft in the water about five miles from the island’s Airport in the Sky and at the area known as Two Harbors. No one was injured.

“He saved our lives,” said Connie Fox, 38, Warner’s girlfriend, who was in the rear of the airplane and seated next to Sandra Ewell, 27.

By all accounts, Warner’s feat of dropping the tail first into the water at an air speed of 50 to 60 m.p.h., then stalling the engine to soften the impact, was credited with saving him and his passengers from serious injury or death.

‘A Very Good Pilot’

“We’re all talking about that pilot here today,” said Gayle Saldana, an employee at the Catalina airport. “That guy was a very good pilot. Somebody should pin a medal on him.”

Warner, who was at work Monday, could not be reached for comment. Fox said that Warner is employed by an airline company in Los Angeles but did not want to elaborate.

To brace himself before impact, Nehrling pressed his hands against the roof of the cockpit, afraid he might accidentally touch one of the airplane’s controls.

“The plane hit and water sprayed all over the front windshield,” Nehrling said. “The jolt was like braking too fast in a car that’s backing up.

“Ron and I immediately began unlatching the two latches on my door. Meanwhile, Sandy had kicked out the window on her side and crawled out onto the wing. I got out, then Ron and then Connie, and we swam to a rescue boat.”

120 Feet of Water

The airplane, a Piper Comanche, sank in 120 feet of water at least 100 yards from shore, the survivors said.

“The plane did go down pretty fast,” Fox said.

She also said that the cargo door popped open on impact, making it easy for them to recover purses and items they brought along for the trip. But most of what was in the cockpit, including Warner’s pilot maps and equipment, sank with the airplane, which was insured.

Nehrling said there was no hint of trouble with the airplane’s engine during the flight to the island.

But as the plane took off from the airport, which lies on a 1,615-foot-high mountaintop with steep terrain on both sides, the engine began to fail. Warner banked right but the plane began to lose altitude at the rate of about 100 feet a minute, Nehrling said.

After the distress call went out, Doug Bombard, a pilot and owner of Catalina Cove and Camp Agency who was monitoring tower operations by radio, told Warner that trying to return to the airport did not seem feasible. Instead, Bombard suggested that Warner try landing on a road near the isthmus.

‘Evasive Action’

“Ron thought he could make it, but he told us to put on our life jackets. After he radioed to the tower that we were in trouble, he looked at me and said, ‘I think we’re going to have to take evasive action.’ ”

With instructions from Bombard, Warner flew about five miles northwest following the island’s coastline toward the isthmus, a narrow neck of land.

Nehrling praised Bombard for his pilot knowledge. At one point, Bombard was able to warn Warner about protruding trees along the route, Nehrling said.

At this point, Warner’s distress call had attracted an unidentified pilot, who trailed Warner’s aircraft.

“We both needed to clear these trees to make it to the isthmus road. But Ron and the pilot in the chase plane answered simultaneously that we weren’t going to make the trees,” Nehrling said.

‘Timed It Perfectly’

“The next thing we saw was the harbor. Ron banked hard right to level it out. He told everybody he was going in toward the last buoy, and that’s exactly where he put it. He started cutting power, and he had excellent perspective. He was able to judge exactly how far above the water we were. He dropped the air speed to 50 to 60 m.p.h.--right at stall speed--let the tail drop in first and stalled the motor. He timed it perfectly.”

“I expected a harder impact,” Nehrling said. “I kept my eyes open all the time. I thought, ‘If I’m going (to die), I want to see everything.’ ”

Both Fox and Nehrling said they had “total confidence” in Warner’s flying skill, adding that he has been flying for more than 20 years.

“I’ve flown with flight instructors who couldn’t fly as good as Warner. Connie, Sandy and myself, we all knew he wouldn’t let anything happen,” Nehrling said.