Search for possible survivors of midair crash suspended

LOS ANGELES — Authorities on Saturday called off the search for survivors of a midair collision that sent at least one plane plunging into the ocean near the Port of Los Angeles and instead turned to hunting bodies and wreckage.

The active search for three missing people was suspended at 9:15 a.m., according to a U.S. Coast Guard statement.

Two men, ages 61 and 81, were aboard a plane that was seen on radar colliding with another aircraft flown by a 72-year-old woman around 3:30 p.m. Friday, officials said.

The first plane was a Beech 35 Bonanza and the second was a Citabria, said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

After reports of the crash, divers converged on an area about 2 miles outside a harbor entrance where a small debris field was found. The water there was 80-90 feet deep.

On Friday, divers found wreckage and a pilot’s logbook from the Beechcraft, Coast Guard Capt. Jennifer Williams said.

Both planes had taken off from the nearby Torrance Airport, and both pilots were experienced, Williams said. All three people live in the nearby South Bay area.

No names have been released.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was using sonar and remotely operated underwater vehicles to search the area where debris and oil were spotted Friday. However, nothing more had been found by Saturday afternoon, said Capt. Jack Ewell of the sheriff’s Special Operations Bureau.

The planes could have gone down in different areas or the ocean currents could have moved debris miles away, he said.

As for the chance of survivors, “the odds are definitely not good,” Ewell said.

“You do have to consider that a plane crashed and it’s very hard to survive that in any conditions, let alone 2 miles out in deep water,” he said.

The nearest harbor entrance was closed to traffic while the search continued.