Divers recover body of missing pilot from midair collision off L.A. coast
Rescue personnel were called out to investigate a possible midair collision between two small planes off the coast of San Pedro on Friday, Feb. 5.
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Divers on Wednesday recovered the body of a pilot in the wreckage of a small plane that collided in midair with another aircraft and plunged into the ocean outside the Port of Los Angeles last week.
The plane and the woman’s body were brought to the surface around 10 a.m., said a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The single-engine Citabria aerobatic plane was discovered Monday evening about a mile from the original crash site, according to the statement.
The second plane involved in the collision and the bodies of the two men who were aboard were recovered Sunday.
A massive search was launched Friday after the plane piloted by the woman was seen on radar colliding with a craft carrying men ages 61 and 81 off San Pedro, just outside the harbor.
Authorities used sonar devices and remotely operated underwater vehicles to conduct the search.
Authorities have not released any identities, but the woman’s husband identified her as Mary Falstrom of Torrance, 72.
Richard Falstrom said his wife, a longtime pilot, told him Friday that she was going on a plane ride to enjoy the sunny weather. Hours later came the news of the collision.
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Falstrom said his wife died doing something that gave her great joy. “She loved flying. It was a passion,” he told the Associated Press.
Mary Falstrom was a member of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization for women pilots, her husband said, and she volunteered at the Western Museum of Flight at Torrance Airport, from which she and the other plane took off Friday.
The plane carrying the men was a Beech 35 Bonanza, said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The crash site was near the Angels Gate light, a lighthouse at the San Pedro Breakwater that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The area is popular for flight students.
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