3 Tustin Marines, 1 Spouse Were Victims of Plane Crash

Private memorial services are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today at the Marine Corps Air Station chapel for three Marine helicopter pilots and the wife of one of them, all of whom died Monday in a Truckee plane crash.

The four victims were identified by the Marines and Nevada County sheriff’s office as: Lt. Francisco F. Palacios Jr., 30, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Lt. Paul L. Storms, 28, of Pensacola, Fla.; Lt. Vincent M. Correal, 27, of Carlisle, Pa.; and Karen Elizabeth Schaefer-Correal, 26, no hometown listed.

They died when their single-engine Cessna crashed on takeoff from the Truckee-Tahoe Airport. Palacios was at the controls of the four-passenger plane, according to Maj. Margaret Kuhn.

Palacios rented the aircraft from the El Toro Aero Club for “recreational purposes” over the Labor Day weekend, Kuhn said. The club, which offers flight instruction and plane rentals, is a civilian organization located on the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Witnesses said they heard the aircraft’s engine sputtering just before it crashed into a brush-covered field about 700 feet beyond the end of the runway. Flames erupted in the engine area and spread to the fuselage, witnesses said, engulfing the plane and burning about one-quarter of an acre. Parts of the plane were melted by the intense heat.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

At the time of his death, Palacios was taking specialized helicopter instruction at Tustin’s Helicopter Training Squadron 302. Correal, who was living in Anaheim, was a co-pilot and assistant embarkation officer with the 302. Storms had recently transferred to the same unit from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465.

A base spokeswoman said all would be probably be buried in their hometowns.