Body Is Spotted by Helicopter Pilot Flying Near Manhattan Beach Shore
The body of a young man was recovered Saturday off Manhattan Beach after a helicopter pilot spotted it in the surf and landed on the beach to alert authorities.
The identity of the dead man was not immediately known.
County lifeguard Lt. Don Souther said the helicopter pilot, Robin Petgrave, saw the body about a third of a mile offshore from Manhattan Beach and landed on the beach about 12:45 p.m. to get help. Souther, who was on duty on the Strand in Manhattan Beach, said he got into Petgrave’s copter and saw the body from the air.
He radioed the sighting to authorities, who dispatched a Baywatch lifeguard crew in a rescue boat. The crew recovered the body and returned to King Harbor in Redondo Beach, Souther said.
Souther quoted Petgrave as saying he decided to land on the beach after failing to contact anyone by radio. “The only people who land on the beach have engine trouble,” Souther said.
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