Crime & Safety

Plane Crashes into Catalina Channel

The two people on board the small airplane were rescued by a Catalina Express ferry. No fatalities were reported.

A small airplane crashed into the Catalina Channel about eight miles northeast of Catalina Island today, and the two people on board were rescued uninjured by a Catalina Express ferry.

Coast Guard spokesman Adam Eggers said the two persons from the plane were taken to the pier in Avalon by the catamaran ferry that rescued them.

Baywatch Avalon reported to the Coast Guard that neither occupant was injured.

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The plane, a single-engine Texas Sport Cub with the tail number N114DE, experienced engine failure and went into the ocean at about 1:15 p.m., said Allen Kentizer of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The catamaran ferry Starship Express made the rescue a few minutes later.

Find out what's happening in Laguna Niguel-Dana Pointwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The plane is registered to David P. Prizio of Tustin and was powered by an amateur-built Jabiru 3300 experimental class engine, according to online FAA records.

Weather conditions were forecast to be good in the channel today, with generally flat seas and light winds.

-City News Service



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