AIRPLANE ACCIDENTS: SANTA CATALINA ISLAND

Wayne Kratzer photographed this propeller and hub assembly at the Isthmus of Catalina in July of 2007. It may be from a Vought F4U-1D or a TBM-3 that crashed on the island in the 1940s.

http://www.aircraftwrecks.com/pic_archive/pic7.htm

• 8/4/1996: Cessna 421C crash

4 serious; 2 minor

FATAL SANTA CATALINA ISLAND CRASHES ONLY:

SANTA CATALINA ISLAND FATAL AIRPLANE ACCIDENTS: DATE AIRCRAFT IDENTIFICATION FATALITIES CIRCUMSTANCES 1921 Curtiss Flying Boat USN 3 fatalities 1/19/1923 F-5L-2 Seaplane Lieut. W. H. Rohrbach killed 7 injured 11/2/1933 Wilmington-Catalina Amphibian Elliott McFarlane Moore, airline manager, George R. Baker, co-pilot pilot Walter L. Seiler (42) survived 4/30/1942 Lockheed P-38D Lightening Lt. Walter F. Lichtenberger, pilot crash-landed 10/17/1944 Goodyear Blimp USN King III 6 fatalities 6 survived 1944/1945 Voght F4U USN pilot killed drowned in kelp July 25, 1956 ADS Skyraider marine lieutenant George V. Mikkelsen, pilot survived 7/ 7/1960 2 fatalities: • Howard H. Holder (34) • Robert T. Woyaich 8/9/1966 Cessna 150A N7160X 1 fatality ACCIDENT REPORT 5/12/1967 Piper PA-24 4 fatalities: • Frederick Phillippi (28), pilot • Sally Phillippi (27), wife • Gilbert Renbarger (60), her father • Arlene Renbarger (57), her mother 5/27/1967 Grumman G-73 N2968 1 fatality; 3 injured ACCIDENT REPORT 9/12/1967 N5638P [1] Avalon, CA 9/29/1968 Grumman G-21A N325 1 fatality: Catalina Seaplanes ACCIDENT REPORT 1/10/1969 McDonnell Douglas F-4B • 2 fatalities: 2/18/1969 Grumman E-1B USN hit Silver Peak. • 5 fatalities: 3/21/1972 Cessna 150H N50218 2 fatalities: • Roy W. Corrigan (22) • Roger T. Powell (21) ACCIDENT REPORT 1/14/1973 Piper PA-24 N5334P •1 fatality ACCIDENT REPORT 11/5/1976 Beechcraft D45 N14406 • 1 fatality ACCIDENT REPORT 8/19/1977 Grumman G-21 Goose N979SB Catalina Airlines • 1 fatality: 8/22/1977 Beechcraft E18S(NTSB) N979SB 2 fatalities: Air Fast Freight • Charles C. Clifford (38), pilot • Robert G. Graves (38) ACCIDENT REPORT 12/14/1977 Bellanca 7ECA N5233X 1 fatality ACCIDENT REPORT 7/10/1978 Catalina Airlines helicopter 1 fatality Georgia Grace Wyatt 4/14/1979 Grumman G-21 N11CS 1 fatality: • Ruth Gardner (81) Catalina Airlines aircraft was landing at Pebbly Beach when pilot attempted a go-around to avoid a boat wake. Aircraft stalled and crashed. http://catalinagoose.homestead.com/serialnumbers.html 9/17/1979 Grumman N22932 Catalina Airlines 1 fatality: (33) Elevator control cable broke during a take-off at Pebbly Beach and aircraft crashed. 12/10/1979 Piper PA-28 N8432C 2 fatalities: • David Lee Riddle (38) • Eddie Reyes (20) 1/26/1980 Piper PA-32 N2781M saw USO (unidentified submerged object) 1 fatality; pilot survived Roman Noah Felice, pilot survived • Mark Anthony Felice (30) 2/22/1981 Sikorsky S-62A N324Y Catalina Airlines 2 fatalities: 5/28/1981 Beechcraft 58 N140S 2 fatalities: 6/11/1982 Wing D-1 N8601M 2 fatalities: • Alfred Asterman 1/3/1983 Piper PA-28-161 N2239M 2 fatalities; 2 injured • Max Reinstein (62), pilot • James Henry Gibbons (40) ACCIDENT REPORT 1/30/1984 Leerjet 24 N44GA 6 fatalities: • Kenneth Doyle Plante (37), pilot • David Soderling (28), co-pilot • Steven A. Berardi (42) • Heather Berardi (40) • Joe L. Denison (49) • Oralyn Ann Denison (50) ACCIDENT REPORT 5/20/1984 Piper Lance N30298 2 fatalities; 3 injured 6/18/1984 FA-18 Hornet 1 fatality: • Lt. Cmdr. James R. Brodengeyer (37) 1/18/1985 McDonnell Douglas F-18 1 fatality: 11/30/1985 Bell 206-L Jet Ranger Island Express collision 1 fatality; 11 survivors. • Hossein Habibi (28) 1/30/1986: Learjet 6 fatalities in landing accident 7/3/1990 Cessna 172N N2810E 1 fatality; two survivors Robert David Harder, pilot survived Jonathan Benzing (33) survived • Robert David Harder, Jr. (15) killed 5/2/1992 Beechcraft A-36 N583T 1 fatality 5/27/1992 Beechcraft S-35 N5874S 2 fatalities ACCIDENT REPORT 2/15/1993 Beechcraft E-33 N7882R 1 fatality Pilot committed suicide. A note was found in his car at Long Beach Airport the nest day. 4/5/1994 Cessna 152 N93508 1 fatality: Jeffrey Noel Matson (33) ACCIDENT REPORT 2/11/1997 Piper PA-28-161 N8436X 1 fatality ACCIDENT REPORT 5/7/1998 Cessna 172N N6514E 4 fatalities: Darin Cameron (19), pilot Audrey Nizich (24) Peter Nizich (19) brother Jennifer Ortega (19) ACCIDENT REPORT •9/30/1998 Cessna 152 N49770 1 fatality •11/21/1999 Aerostar 600 N97CC 1 fatality 8/2/2002 Beechcraft 58-TC N2102L 2 fatalities: • (54) • (48) ACCIDENT REPORT 12/24/2003 Piper PA-34-200T N3747U 5 fatalities ACCIDENT REPORT 8/31/2005 Avions Robin R N216RN 1 fatality: 9/7/2005 Cessna 172RG N9636B 2 fatalities ACCIDENT REPORT 5/24/2008 Aerospatiale Helo N67GE 3 fatalities: • Emeric Maillet (33), pilot • John Terry (25), employee • Tania Hurd (46), teacher Mooney, Santa Catalina Island, 2008 10/20/2008 Mooney M20J N201EN 3 fatalities: • Dr. Charles Cowan (74), pilot • Jeanien Cowan (56), wife • Patricia Carmichael, friend (1947-2008) ACCIDENT REPORT 2/5/2009 Beechcraft A-36 N66819 3 fatalities • Mark Hoagland (48), pilot • Amy Marie Judd (25), tourist • Marshall Goldberg (39), tourist ACCIDENT REPORT Csssna 182, Santa Catalina Island, 2010 7/1/2010 Cessna 182P N222CG 1 fatality: • Jeffrey Loeffler (53), pilot, had a heart attack ACCIDENT REPORTS ------------------------------------------------------------------- November 8, 1933 [TI/Avalon]: “While taking off from the airport last Thursday for the early morning flight to the mainland, without passengers, one of the amphibian planes of the local airline suddenly swerved and overturned while traveling at a high rate of speed. The impetus was so great that Elliott McFarlane Moore, manager of the airline, and co-pilot George R. Baker, were instantly killed. Senior pilot W. L. Seiler was unconscious when taken to the Catalina Hospital after the crash. The exact cause of the accident that resulted in the two fatalities has not yet been determined. It is thought, however, that because there were no passengers on board, that some sort of a test was being made by the men on board the plane. The water was smooth, the flying conditions were ideal, and so far, according to the experts who have studied the wrecked plane, no mechanical defect has been discovered. One observer suggested that perhaps, as the plane ‘stepped’ from the water into the air the left pontoon dragged, which would swing the plane into a nosedive. As the plane overturned the occupants were hurled head first into the object nearest to them. Immediately after the mishap the airport crew, who had witnesses the upset nearly two miles offshore, sped to the rescue in the airport patrol boat and succeeded in freeing Pilot W. L. Seiler and recovering the body of Mr. Moore. Pilot Seiler arrived at the hospital in the city ambulance thirty minutes after the catastrophe. Funeral services were held in Long Beach Saturday for the co-pilot, George R. Baker, who was 28 years of age, and had been an Avalon resident for several months. At the request of relatives in the east, the remains of Lieut. Elliott McFarlane Moore, aged 36, were taken to Washington, D. C. for interment. This is the first fatal accident on the Wilmington-Catalina Airline that has occurred since its inauguration, when Mr. E. McFarlane Moore was made manager, May 30, 1931. Only the day previous to his death Manager Moore made the announcement tht the Catalina Airline had carried more than 36,000 passengers, and had flown more than 125,000 miles; that among the passengers, had been a ten-day-old baby and its mother; and on another occasion one of the passengers had been a nervous old lady, celebrating her 97th birthday by taking a round trip ride on the cross-channel plane! It is understood the service on the line will be resumed within the next few days, as soon as one of the other ships can be taken from its winter storage and placed in service. The safety precautions taken by the Catlaina Airline has not only been highly commended by the hundreds of passengers who have made the cross channel trip, but these precautions have also met with the exacting regulations of government inspectors. The twin motored amphibians used in the service are of the latest design, and carry ten passengers…” October 19, 1944 [TI/Avalon]: “Five men were burned to death and five of the crew were seriously burned or injured when the U.S. Navy Blimp on a routine patrol crashed into the hillside at the south end of Avalon canyon at 11 P.M. Tuesday. The blimp was a total loss. So fierce was the fire after the crash that the surrounding ridge 1600 feet above sea level and three miles southeast of Avalon, was illuminated, despite the fog, for more than two hours. The fire burned about one acre of brush, stopping at the firebreak on top of the ridge. Several depth bombs carried by the blimp, exploded. With pack horses and stretchers rescue crews worked all night to bring out the injured and the dead. The injured ones were cared for at the U.S. Maritime hospital. The unidentified bodies were taken on board a navy patrol boat and back to the base at Santa Ana. It is understood that the blimp was making a night training flight and that shortly before the crash the craft had passed over the island, circled, and the navigator had set the course for the trip back to the mainland. According to the rescue workers the blimp struck the island about 100 feet from the top of the ridge. The debris was hurled far and wide and much of it landed in the bottom of the canyon some 600 feet deep. Until the cause of the catastrophe can be investigated and the nearest of kin notified strict censorship has been maintained by the Navy Department. The U.S Maritime Service, the Avalon Police and the Avalon Branch of the County Forestry Department, were highly complimented for their cooperation and helpfulness, by the U.S. Navy officers that came to Avalon by speed boat from the Santa Ana base.” July 4, 1990 [LAT]: “A teen-age boy was killed and his father and another man were seriously injured when a small plane crashed into a hillside on Santa Catalina Island Tuesday [July 3]. The 15-year-old passenger, Robert David Harder, Jr., died at the scene near the Catalina Island Marine Institute, a summer youth camp west of Avalon. Another passenger, Jonathan Benzing, 33, was in serious condition with multiple injuries at Long Beach memorial Medical Center. The pilot, Robert David Harder, Sr. get rest of article May 28, 1992 [LAT]: “Two people died Wednesday when a private plane crashed near the airport on Catalina Island, a sheriff’s deputy said. The plane went down on a wooded and brushy hillside two miles west of Airport-in-the-Sky about 3:15 P.M., said an airport official. The plane lost power after takeoff, said sheriff’s Deputy Hal Grant.” May 29, 1992 [NYT]: “A man and a woman were killed when their small plane crashed on takeoff from the airport on Catalina Island. The plane went down on a wooded and brushy hillside two miles west of Airport-in-the-Sky about 3:15 P.M., an airport official said.” April 8, 1994 [LAT]: “A Laguna Beach man killed when his single-engine plane crashed in a remote area of Santa Catalina Island has been identified as Jeffrey Noel Matson, authorities said Thursday. Matson, 33, who received his private pilot’s license less than nine months ago, transmitted a distress signal to air traffic control in El Toro just minutes before crashing at 6:45 P.M. Tuesday, according to Jim Miller, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Matson told the tower he had engine trouble and planned to land at Catalina Airport, Miller said.” November 22, 1999 [TI/Avalon]: “A twin-engine Piper aircraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Catalina Island today, killing at least one man. The six-seat, 1974 Piper Aerostar 600A took off from Fullerton Airport in Orange County at 9:15 A.M. today and disappeared from radar an hour later, said Kirsto Dunn, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman in Seattle. Officials did not know how many people were aboard because the pilot did not file a flight plan, Ms. Dunn said. The airplane had been flying at about 5,500 feet on training maneuvers, she said. The Coast Guard was searching about 14 miles northeast of the island resort, which is about 30 miles off the Southern California coast, and had recovered some debris from the plane. One man’s body was taken to a Coast Guard base in Los Angeles, the agency said. No other information about the man was available.” August 9, 2002 [TI/Avalon]: “The Catalina Island Airport in the Sky was the scene of a tragic crash of an incoming plane last Friday afternoon. Fog contributed to the pilot’s difficulty in putting his Beechcraft Baron twin engine plane down on the runway. According to Station Commander Gary Olson, the pilot was approaching the airport from the ocean side, trying for runway 44, at high speed. He misjudged the length of the runway, was unable to stop before plunging off into the hillside brush, about 100 yards from the end of the runway. The plane disintegrated on impact, burst into flames, starting a brush fire in the surrounding area. Both the pilot and his female passenger were killed instantly. The couple were coming from Cave Creek, Arizona, outside Scottsdale, to meet up with a brother, also flying in from Concord. The brother landed successfully shortly before the ill-fated Beechcraft. The brush fire burned about one quarter acre before it was extinguished by both county and city fire personnel, Search & Rescue, both the east and west teams, Sheriff’s deputies from both Avalon and the Isthmus, plus volunteer firemen from Avalon. The crash occurred at 2:15 P.M. Friday afternoon. By 5:30 P.M. a helicopter carrying the coroner and crash investigation representatives had arrived on the scene. The bodies were retrieved and removed to the mainland by 9:30 P.M. The pilot was a 54 year old man, accompanied by his longtime companion, a 48 year old woman. This was the second airplane crash with fatalities, and brush fire resulting from it in several years. The preceding crash was responsible for causing the fire at Goat Harbor.” December 25, 2003 [CT]: “Avalon, California—A twin-engine plane crashed into a mountain on Santa Catalina Island in poor weather Wednesday, killing all five people aboard, authorities said. Three adults and two children were killed, said Brendon Peart, supervising dispatcher for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The victims were not immediately identified.” September 1, 2005 [LAT]: “The pilot of a small, private plane died Wednesday when his aircraft crashed into the sea two miles off Santa Catalina Island, but a passenger survived and was rescued by a pleasure boat, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Robin Sport aircraft was flying from Long Beach to the Isthmus on Catalina when it developed engine problems, authorities said. The plane crashed two miles from Isthmus Harbor.” October 25, 2008 [RDF]: “Dr. Charles Michael Cowan, a cardiologist who practiced in the Inland Empire for many years, and his wife, Jeanien Rickett Cowan, died October 20. Charles Cowan began his cardiology practice in San Bernardino in 1972 and later worked as a cardiologist at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Riverside. He was born June 25, 1934, in Jersey City to Joseph and Rebecca Cowan. He graduated from Ohio State University; completed medical school at New Jersey College of Medicine; had internships and residencies at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, Grady Hospital in Atlanta and a fellowship in cardiology in Detroit; and served on the faculty of the School of Medicine at Wayne State University in Detroit. His family said he was an adventurer, athlete and a lover of life. He enjoyed white-water rafting, running, fishing, skiing and swimming and built his aircraft, the “VariViggen,’ which he flew for many years out of Rialto Airport. He also ran marathons, completed the ‘Iron Man’ in Hawaii, and finished the ‘Escape from Alcatraz’ triathlon in San Francisco. He and his wife, Jeanien, traveled ‘to the ends of the earth.’ He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Sherry and John Hanover, son and daughter-in-law Billy and Supranee Cowan; step children Jennifer and Brian Buck and Brandon Haber; brother Ken Cowan; grandchildren, Sidney, Jacob and Carter.” February 9, 2009 [LAT]: “Authorities have identified two of the three people killed in a plane crash Thursday on Catalina Island. Marshall D. Goldberg, 39, of Florida and Amy Marie Judd, 25 of Ohio, are believed to be the two passengers who died in the plane crash on a remote hilltop area on the western side of the island February 27, 2009 [Clifford Law Offices]: “In trying to determine a cause of the fatal plane crash off California’s Catalina Island that killed passengers Marshall Goldberg, vice president for EnviroTrac, a national environmental consulting company, and Amy Marie Judd of Las Vegas, some interest is being focused on the flying license of their pilot, Marl Hoglund, who also died in the crash…” July 5, 2010 [TCPP]: “ 53-year-old Wyoming, Minnesota man crashed his private plane on California’s Catalina Island and died Thursday afternoon after sending a radio message that he feared he was having a heart attack. Jeffrey Loeffler radioed to a traffic advisory frequency that he couldn’t move his right side, was having severe chest pains and might not be able to make it to the runway, said Sgt. Fred Keelin, watch commander for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Avalon station on Catalina. He crashed just minutes later, at 1 P.M., Keelin said Sunday. No one else was on board. The crash ignited an approximately 25-acre brush fire on the island, which firefighters spent the day battling, Keelin said.”