The Daily Caller logo
US

Two Pilots Dead After Small Plane Bound For Hawaii Crashes 40 Miles Off The Coast Of California

US-POLITICS-OBAMA-VACATION

AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Alexander Pease Contributor
Font Size:

Two people died as a result of a plane crash which took place off the California coast Sunday.

Initially, the small plane was headed for Honolulu, Hawaii and took-off at Santa Rosa-Sonoma County just after 8:20 a.m. Sunday morning, the L.A. Times reported. A couple of hours later, the aircraft abandoned course and instead made its way toward a small public airstrip in Half Moon Bay, California. It never made it, crashing at 2:15 p.m. approximately 40 miles away from the airport.

Those on-board notified air traffic control of the turn-around, citing “mechanical issues.” (RELATED: ‘Engine Problems’: Commercial Plane En Route To New York Goes Ablaze Mid-Flight)

Following an afternoon call for Mayday help from the aircraft just before the crash, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) advised boaters in the vicinity southwest of the Farallon Islands to keep an eye out for a “small plane in distress” as well as individuals in a “yellow life raft.” (RELATED: News Chopper Catches Footage Of Fiery Banner Plane Crash That Killed Pilot)

But when first responders for the U.S. military service arrived, they came across the plane “upside down” in the water with its occupants submerged inside, USCG Petty Officer Matthew West stated. (RELATED: Plane Crash Prompts Engine Maker For Pentagon’s Star Fighter Jet To Halt Deliveries)

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesperson Sarah Taylor Sulick confirmed there were no other passengers beside the pilot and co-pilot who passed away. Investigators on behalf of the NTSB are in the process of recovering the aircraft which descended into the Pacific Ocean. The federal agency is also probing the identity of the person who owned the private plane. “FAA records show it was registered to a trust managed by the Bank of Utah,” according to the report.

The plane which tragically plummeted was identified as a Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter, categorized as a miniature turboprop aircraft.

This is at least the third fatal plane crash which has occurred off the coast of California so far this May.

Earlier this month, the USCG was forced to suspend the search for those aboard another small plane which crashed off the coast of Southern California earlier May which is believed to have taken three lives, according to an official May 11 USCG San Diego Branch 11 press release.

More recently, three American military contractors who hailed from Georgia were also killed in a plane crash off the coast of California during a U.S. Navy exercise, American Military News reported.

The names of the late pilot and co-pilot from the crash which occurred over the weekend have not been released to the public at the time of publication.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

 You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

 You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

 You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

 You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

 You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

 You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters ✔ ✔ ✔
Daily Caller Shows ✔ ✔ ✔
Ad Free Experience ✔ ✔ ✔
Exclusive Articles ✔ ✔ ✔
Custom Newsletters ✔ ✔ ✔
Editor Daily Rundown ✔ ✔ ✔
Behind The Scenes Coverage ✔ ✔
Award Winning Documentaries ✔ ✔
Patriot War Room ✔ ✔
Patriot Live Chat ✔ ✔
Exclusive Events ✔
Gold Membership Card ✔
Tucker Mug ✔

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel