Passengers believed to be Japanese nationals
GILROY, Calif. (AP)
– Workers on Tuesday found three bodies inside the wreckage of a
small plane that crashed into a sewage pond at a wastewater
treatment plant, authorities said.
Passengers believed to be Japanese nationals
GILROY, Calif. (AP) – Workers on Tuesday found three bodies inside the wreckage of a small plane that crashed into a sewage pond at a wastewater treatment plant, authorities said.
The twin-engine plane crashed south of Gilroy around 4 p.m. Monday after departing from Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Treatment plant workers discovered the bodies Tuesday morning after they pumped most of the sludge from the sewage pool near Gilroy, about 30 miles south of San Jose, Gregor said.
Authorities believe the three passengers killed were all Japanese nationals, Gregor said. They believe the instructor was a U.S. resident, while the two students were visiting from Japan. A Japanese passport was recovered from the crash scene.
The Beechcraft Travelair plane was the same aircraft the Nice Air flight school in San Jose had reported missing Monday, Gregor. The plane took off about 1 p.m. and was scheduled to return at 5 p.m., but never arrived.
Nice Air officials said that the plane belonged to the flight school but could not confirm the passengers’ identities, said Vicki Gonzales, office manager at Nice Air.
“The Nice Air family lost three exceptional young men in an accident involving one of our aircraft,” the flight school said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the men and their families.”
Nice Air said it was cooperating with federal officials in the investigation.
A pilot reported seeing the plane go down around 4 p.m. Monday. An hour later, emergency workers found the plane broken up and submerged in about 20 feet of raw sewage at South County Regional Wastewater Authority’s wastewater treatment plant, Gregor said.
Workers planned to sterilize the sewage pool Tuesday before investigators climb inside to examine the wreckage and recover the bodies, officials said.
There were no calls for help made to air traffic controllers before the crash, Gregor said. Investigators from the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the cause of the crash.
