Global Courant 2023-05-13 05:07:15
Three people aboard a US Navy-contracted aircraft were killed on Wednesday when it crashed during a training exercise off San Clemente Island, officials said Friday.
The three men — Eric Tatman, Spencer Geerlings and Shane Garner — were from Georgia and worked for Phoenix Air Group, the owner and operator of the Learjet that crashed near the Navy-owned island, officials said. Tatman was a captain, Geerlings a first officer and Garner a systems specialist, said Phoenix Air, an air charter company based in Cartersville, Georgia, that provides services to private groups and government agencies.
“The entire Phoenix Air family mourns the loss of our friends and colleagues and supports the families of our fallen colleagues,” the company said in a statement.
Two Learjet aircraft owned and operated by Phoenix Air had taken part in a Navy training exercise on Wednesday, the company said in a statement. According to the statement, the planes were in a military-restricted area as part of a “carefully planned” series of flights related to naval fleet readiness.
The Learjet carrying the three men crashed into the Pacific Ocean around 7:55 a.m., said Levi Read, a spokesman for the US Coast Guard. The other plane landed safely but immediately began searching the waters, the Coast Guard said.
Officials arrived around 8:55 a.m. and found a debris field a mile southwest of San Clemente Island.
The plane had taken off from Naval Air Station Point Mugu and lost contact with air traffic controllers about a mile from the island, officials said.
Navy, Air Force, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel searched a combined 334 square miles near where the plane had crashed, but they found no one among the wreckage, the The Coast Guard said in a statement.
Search and rescue efforts were halted on Thursday.
“Suspending searches is one of the most difficult decisions to make, but after aggressively searching the San Clemente Island area for more than 24 hours using land, air and surface resources with negative results, it was decided to suspend active search until further information or developments take place,” Coast Guard Captain Jim Spitler said in the statement. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the missing passengers.”
Authorities said the bodies of the victims have not been found. No other Phoenix Air employees or aircraft were involved, the company said.
The National Council for Transport Safety, the Federal Aviation Administration and the United States Department of Defense are investigating the cause of the crash. Phoenix Air said it was cooperating with the investigation.
