3 people believed aboard 2 planes that collided off LA

Passengers on a private fishing boat alerted the Coast Guard of a small plane plunging into the water at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, the same time radar signal for two aircrafts was lost.

Their investigation region will be expanded by crisis staff for three individuals who have been reported missing following a midair crash involving two little airplanes off the Southern California coast, authorities said. Williams said that no one involved in the search wants to give up. Both planes took from from nearby Torrance Airport.

Two 87-foot patrol boats to conduct search patterns throughout the night until 9:15 a.m., Coast Guard officials said.

The two small aircraft were described as a Beech 35 Bonanza and a Citabria, according to FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer.

Divers enter the water off the L.A. harbor in the search for a possible downed plane on February 5, 2016.

“There is a debris field off San Pedro that is actively being searched overnight by two Coast Guard vessels, and at first light we will have Coast Guard and sheriff’s department helicopters up in the air to search the area”, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrea Anderson told City News Service. Officials have not confirmed that the second aircraft went down, but it appeared to be missing.

After the planes apparently collided, searchers discovered a debris field a quarter-mile from the Point Fermin Lighthouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and is at the San Pedro Breakwater.

As for the chance of survivors, “the odds are definitely not good”, Ewell said.

Richard Garnett, chief flight instructor with the Long Beach Flying Club, said the pilots practice in an area that is 10 to 20 square miles and at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 feet. 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. “We are really diligent”.