1 Killed as Plane Crashes in Ocean

A single-engine plane crashed in the ocean about two miles south of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant on Tuesday, leaving one person dead and another--rescued by a surfer--seriously injured.

Authorities said there may have been a third person on the plane who was still missing late Tuesday.

Witnesses told police that at about 3:15 p.m., a Cessna four-seat propeller plane glided toward the water about one-third of a mile from San Onofre State Beach, as if it were landing. When the plane touched the ocean, it flipped over and was quickly submerged.

Federal aviation officials are investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred outside a zone where access was temporarily restricted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast.

Officials would not release the names of anyone on board the Cessna, which was heading from McClellan-Palomar Airport near Carlsbad to Hawthorne Airport.

David Kremers, a surfer from Pasadena who was on the beach when the plane went down, put on his wetsuit and swam to the crash site after he saw the tail sink in the water. A San Diego County police helicopter arrived as he was swimming, and officers aboard used the public address system to guide Kremers to the survivor. The helicopter dropped a buoy into the water, and Kremers propped up the victim, who was described as being in his 30s.

“I told him to relax and keep his head above the water,” said Kremers, 41. “I put his arms over the buoy to keep him afloat.”

Kremers was joined in the water by lifeguard Melissa Borio. She said the victim was barely conscious, but seemed to say there were two other people on board. “He was not responsive,” Borio said. “He was experiencing hypothermia and shock. . . . We couldn’t even get him back to the shore.”

The temperature in the water at that time was estimated at about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter then joined the rescue and roped down a body-sized basket. The victim was hoisted into the helicopter and airlifted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where he was listed in critical condition Tuesday evening.

Soon after the first victim was airlifted out, police boats from Oceanside spotted a body in the water. That person, a woman in her early 30s, was dead by the time police arrived.

The U.S. Coast Guard continued looking for a third person with helicopters, boats and divers, but did not find anyone. By about 6:30 p.m., the Coast Guard had stopped searching. “We’re still trying to find out how many people were on the plane,” said Petty Officer John Wright, who added that the search would continue this morning.

Some witnesses at the scene said the plane that crashed was flying with another propeller plane that circled overhead after the crash. But aviation officials and police have been unable to determine whether that was the case.