Searchers Recover Helicopter, 2 Bodies in Ocean

Searchers Wednesday recovered a helicopter containing the bodies of two of the three Southern California Edison employees killed last month when the aircraft crashed off of Huntington Beach.

Though company officials would not identify the two people, pending positive identification by the Orange County coroner’s office, Edison spokesman Clarence Brown said they were a man and a woman. “That’s all we know at this point,” Brown said.

The second man who died in the crash was presumed to be lost at sea, Brown said. “Based on what the authorities say, it doesn’t seem like searching further would yield any result.”

The three employees--identified as pilot Gorden Hodges, 65, of Corona and managers Sandra Brandligt, 33, of Whittier and David Peacor, 51, of Vista--were killed May 28 when the company helicopter in which they were riding crashed into the ocean on the way from Irvine to an early-morning business meeting on Catalina Island.

After a dozen days of aerial and underwater searching by a firm hired by Edison, the fallen aircraft was discovered Wednesday afternoon nearly 5 miles northwest of the Huntington Beach Pier at a depth of 151 feet. After pinpointing the helicopter’s likely point of impact with the aid of enhanced radar plotting provided by the National Transportation Safety Board, searchers used sophisticated underwater sonar equipment to locate the wreckage, Brown said.

The NTSB is directing an ongoing investigation into the cause of the accident.