Coast Guard, Local Agencies Search For Downed Plane

Coast Guard and local agencies responded Sunday to mid-air collision between a 1965 Cessna 210 and a Hawker Sea Fury that has resulted in the apparent fatal injury of the Cessna pilot.

The accident occurred near San Pablo Bay after two planes collided in mid-air above the Bay Sunday, according to a Coast Guard news release. At approximately 4 p.m., the Sector San Francisco Coast Guard command center received a call about a small Cessna and a WWII-era aircraft that had collided. The Coast Guard launched four rescue boat crews and one rescue helicopter crew and established a temporary safety zone in the water while the FAA established a temporary flight-restriction zone in the area.

Debris has been located in the water, but there had been no signs of the downed pilot as of Monday.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said the two people on board the Hawker Sea Fury TMK20 ... a husband and wife ... landed safely at Eagle Harbor Airport after the incident. They were uninjured, according to SFGate online. The website reported that both flights had originated at Eagle Harbor, and the aircraft had been flying together.

The incident is under investigation.
 
Mariners in the area are being asked to contact their nearest Coast Guard station if they find any debris in the water.

(Cessna 210 pictured in file photo. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.uscg.mil, www.ntsb.gov