Rescuers On Scene Immediately

This story reminds us that we should always fly within gliding distance of the shore, that we should make sure to look at the gauges once in a while... and perhaps most of all, that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Bruce Moody and Matt Barcelona were pretty lucky indeed. They were flying around the Bay Area Wednesday doing aerial photography. About two hours after takeoff, their 1979 Cessna 210 Centurion (type shown at right) suddenly went quiet at 1,500 feet over the water off Emeryville.

Moody was the PIC, and said he tried to glide to Alameda to land, but didn't make it. The C210 splashed down 500 yards from shore just north of the Bay Bridge.

Fortunately for Moody and Barcelona, drivers waiting in line to pay their tolls saw it happen and called 911.

As it turned out, the Coast Guard, Alameda County Sheriff's Department and the Oakland Police Department had a total of six boats conducting a drill, and all were less than two miles from where the plane went down. The Coast Guard reached the stranded men in a 32-foot inflatable Zodiac within 15 minutes of the call.

By that time, the paper reports the men were standing on the wing of the submerged plane, and only the tail was still visible above the water. The men were said to be wet and cold, but fine after warming up for a while under the supervision of medics on Yerba Buena Island.

Air Flight Service of Santa Clara, the company which owns the plane, is in turn owned by Matt's father, Jack Barcelona, who says he'll work with authorities on how to recover the plane from the bay.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 6278C        Make/Model: C210      Description: 210, T210, (Turbo)Centurion
  Date: 09/10/2008     Time: 2051

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: OAKLAND   State: CA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT LOST POWER AND CRASHED INTO THE BAY, THE TWO PERSONS ON BOARD WERE
  RESCUED BY THE COAST GUARD, NORTH SIDE OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY, OAKLAND, CA

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   2     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   2
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: OAK 2053Z 10SM CLR

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Aerial Observation      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: OAKLAND, CA  (WP27)                   Entry date: 09/11/2008

FMI: www.faa.gov