2 Killed In Small Plane Crash At Lake Berryessa
NAPA (CBS SF) -- Two airplane manufacturer employees were killed when their single-engine plane crashed Monday morning in Napa County at Lake Berryessa, a Napa County sheriff's captain said.
Napa County officials have identified the dead men as 55-year-old Jon Murray Karkow and passenger 41-year-old Cagri Sever. The two men were employees of Icon Aircraft -- the Vacaville-based manufacturer of the plane that crashed.
Karkow, 55, was the company's lead aeronautical engineer. Sever, 41, was an engineer who had recently joined the company.
The crash happened shortly after 9:00 a.m. in the area of Little Portuguese Cove at the eastern end of Lake Berryessa, between Pleasure Cove Marina and Markley Cove Resort, said Capt. Steve Blower.
The single-engine Icon A5 crashed under circumstances officials have not determined yet. Icon describes the two-seat A5 as an amphibious light sport aircraft which can land on water.
It was not clear whether the plane was flying or taxiing on the lake's surface in the moments leading up to the crash.
"We get a lot of people up there doing touchdowns with their float boats and stuff like that so it's fairly common to have a lot of planes up here at the lake," Capt. Keith Behlmer.
Icon has built about 20 of the cutting-edge planes, which sell for about $200,000. The planes are advertised as easy to fly and require less training in order to obtain a pilot's license.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.
Blower said the crash site was inaccessible from land. Deputies other assisting agencies were using boats to get to the site, he said.
TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.