Wreckage Submerged In Napa River

Authorities in California have found what appears to be the wreckage of a Mitsubishi MU-2 at the bottom of the Napa River, not far from where it was headed more than a week ago. The bodies of Ronald and Peggy Scott, both 62 years old, were found inside the wreckage.

The discovery of the downed aircraft ended a search that began on Monday, after the Scotts were reported missing by concerned family members. They had taken off from Imperial County Airport in Southern California March 11 and weren't heard from since.

Officials said the Scotts didn't file a flight plan for the trip and weren't using flight following. It was last tracked on radar that night between the Napa County Airport and San Pablo Bay, according to a Napa County Sheriff's report.

Using sonar, deputies located the aircraft in about 20 feet of water. It apparently rested there without anyone's knowledge for several days.

"He (Ronald Scott) didn't show up for his meeting on Friday, and nobody did anything or said anything until ... Monday," said airport administrative assistant Winona Boyer. She said Scott was a frequent visitor to the Napa County Airport.

"He has been a regular transient at the airport since 1999," the employee said, adding that Ronald Scott worked with a cancer research institute in San Diego and made several trips a month to Napa County for meetings. He had one place he usually parked, and no one paid much attention," she said.

FAA Preliminary Accident Report

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 966MA        Make/Model: MU2       Description: MU-2, Marquise, Solitaire (LR-1)
  Date: 03/11/2004     Time: 1232

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: NAPA                        State: CA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  ACFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, SUBJECT OF AN ALERT NOTICE 3/12,
  WRECKAGE  LOCATED, TWO PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALY INJURED, ACFT WAS
  DESTROYED,  SOUTH OF NAPA, CA

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   1
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   Y
                 # Pass:    0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:           Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: UNK                                                                        
                                                                                    
                                                        

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Pleasure      Phase: Unknown      Operation: General Aviation

  Departed: IMPERAL, CA                 Dep Date: 03/11/2004   Dep. Time:     
  Destination: NAPA, CA                 Flt Plan: UNK          Wx Briefing: U
  Last Radio Cont: UNK
  Last Clearance: UNK

  FAA FSDO: SACRAMENTO, CA  (WP25)                Entry date: 03/17/2004 #

FMI: www.ntsb.gov