Officials identify 3 people killed in plane crash off California coast
The three people who were aboard a plane used by a Navy contractor that crashed in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California on Wednesday morning have been identified, the aviation service who owned the plane said in a statement Friday.
The three, who were flight crew employees, were identified by Phoenix Air Group as: Captain Eric Tatman of Marietta, Georgia; 1st Officer Spencer Geerlings of Newnan, Georgia; and systems specialist Shane Garner of Taylorsville, Georgia. No ages or other information was given about the three.
"The entire Phoenix Air Family grieves over this loss of our friends and fellow employees," the agency said in a statement.
Recovery efforts are underway, the company said.
The company also said on Wednesday morning, two Phoenix Air owned and operated Learjet aircrafts were taking part in a U.S. Navy training exercise. A Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that the plane had taken off from Point Mugu, which is part of Naval Base Ventura County, about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
Both planes were "flying in a military restricted area as part of a carefully planned series of flight profiles" supporting the naval fleet. The other aircraft ended safely, Phoenix Air said.
The Learjet crash was first reported a little before 8 a.m. PT, about a mile southwest of San Clemente Island, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. San Clemente Island, which is owned by the U.S. Navy, is about 80 miles west of San Diego.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed in a tweet Wednesday night that it was investigating the crash of the Gates Learjet 36A. The names of the three missing people or details on their relationship to the Navy were not immediately released. The investigation remains ongoing.
The details of the crash were unclear. According to the Coast Guard, the initial report from the Navy's Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility, which conducts offshore air traffic control, was of an aircraft emergency aboard the Learjet, and that the aircraft was unable to make it back to San Clemente Island's runway.
Search efforts by the Coast Guard, Navy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Air Force were suspended on Thursday, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The search covered 334 square miles, officials said.
Phoenix Air has been a contracted air operator for the U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense elements performing readiness training for over two decades, the company said.