Witnesses Say Engine Quit After Takeoff In Heavy Fog

Authorities say a single-engine Piper aircraft crashed Friday shortly after departing from the Corona Municipal Airport (AJO) in dense fog, claiming the lives of both persons aboard.

The Los Angeles Times reports the plane departed from Corona Friday morning, on an IFR flight plan to Lake Havasu, AZ. Witnesses reported hearing the sound of the aircraft's engine overhead, when it suddenly quit; officials added the plane crashed before its pilot had the chance to contact regional air traffic control.

The wreckage of the PA28 Cherokee was discovered Friday night by a police helicopter searching a densely wooded area about one-and-a-half miles northwest of the airport, near the Prado Dam on the Santa Ana River.

Lt. Jerry Rodriguez of the Corona Fire Department said that by Saturday afternoon, the bodies of a man and a woman had been recovered, and most of the wreckage of the plane had been removed from the crash site as well.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the wreckage of the plane had been very difficult to see from the air. Gregor added that investigators from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were expected on site Saturday to begin the investigation.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov