2 small planes collide in ocean near Los Angeles

A preliminary report at 3:14 p.m. indicated a small plane was in the ocean with a small debris field near San Pedro, Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

No survivors were found by Friday evening, and the number of passengers was not known, Anderson said.

Authorities found a log book, which helped them identify one of the planes and the two people on board, CNN said.

The collision of two planes off the coast of Southern California has sent rescue operations scrambling to find survivors. The planes collided at around 3:30 p.m. and apparently went into the water about two miles outside the harbor entrance, U.S. Coast Guard and other officials said.

One of the planes was a Beechcraft 35 and the other was described as an aerobatic stunt plane, according to Q13 Fox.

The wreckage may be in 80 to 90 feet of water.

The Coast Guard said it immediately launched a 45-foot response boat from a nearby Coast Guard Station along with a MH-65 from Coast Guard Air Station to investigate, along with assets from several partner agencies.

The search for wreckage and possible survivors over a 200-square-mile area lasted through the night with helicopters and boats, with a more extensive search that began about 6:15 a.m. this morning.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was using sonar and remotely operated underwater vehicles to search the area where debris and oil were spotted Friday.

The crash site is near the Angels Gate light, a historic lighthouse at the San Pedro Breakwater.

On an average day, there is going to be four or three airplanes in the air in once.

“So with the amount of activity, actually, I think we’ve been fortunate”, he said. “We’re extremely diligent. I do not understand why, what occurred in this scenario”.

The details are not clear, but the Coast Guard said in a statement that two aircraft were seen possibly colliding on radar by the Federal Aviation Administration. There were two similar collision incidents in 1986 and in 2001, although the former didn’t result in any fatalities as both aircraft managed to return to their airports.