San Diego Plane Crash
A recent crash involving a Coast Guard C-130 carrying seven people and a Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra with two crew members was remembered at the Sacramento station where the Coast Guard plane was based.
The crash, in which nine servicemen are missing, occurred near San Clemente Island, a Naval training site while the Coast Guard plane was engaged in a search for a missing boatman.
Investigation by a joint Marines-Coast Guard board is still underway to determine the cause of the crash. According to one article, “The accident happened at 7:10 p.m. in airspace uncontrolled by the FAA and inside a so-called military warning area, which is at times open to civilian aircraft and at times closed for military use, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. He did not know the status of the airspace at the time.”
Pilots in the area reportedly maintain a safe distance from other aircraft during times when there is heavy military traffic by using what they call the “see-and-avoid principle.”
The pilot of the C-130, just before the crash, was reportedly instructed by the FAA to commence communication with controllers at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego Bay.