SAN DIEGO BAY, CA - MARCH 8: Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents of the Marine Interdiction Unit search the horizon for Mexican smuggling boats at the opening of the San Diego harbor on March 8, 2006 in San Diego, California. The CBP boat is roughly 8 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border with Tijuana on the Pacific Ocean. CBP agents patrol 91 coastal miles along the southern California coast to the Mexican border. Smugglers moving north are often interdicted at sea carrying marijuana along with their human cargo. Mexicans can pay 1200-1300 USD for a passage depending on where they are dropped off. The 25 foot CBP boat uses a variety of radar inputs from the U.S Navy fleet stationed at San Diego and from the US Coast Guard patrolling the area off of Point Loma, California. It is estimated that some 6.3 million illegal Mexican immigrants live in the US and some 485,000 undocumented Mexican immigrants enter the US annually. The US government estimates 11 million illegal immigrants reside in the US In 2005, San Diego and Imperial counties of southern California deported 40,335 Mexican and Central American immigrants. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
Point Loma, California – Rescue operations continued into the night on Sunday after a small passenger plane carrying six people crashed into the Pacific Ocean roughly three miles off the coast of Point Loma. The U.S. Coast Guard, along with local and federal agencies, is coordinating an extensive search of the area, where water depths reach approximately 200 feet.
The aircraft, a 1970 Cessna 414 with twin engines and seating for up to seven people, was reported down just before 1 p.m., according to San Diego Fire-Rescue and Coast Guard officials. Flight tracking data indicates the plane departed from San Diego International Airport and was en route to Phoenix, Arizona. The aircraft is registered to Optimal Health Systems, a nutritional supplement company based in Pima, Arizona.
A debris field was discovered at the crash site, along with an oil sheen on the water. Lifeguards from the San Diego Fire Department located initial debris and turned it over to Coast Guard personnel for further examination. Officials have not confirmed the size of the debris field but noted that sonar assistance from San Diego Harbor Police was used to pinpoint the area of impact.
Two helicopters and three boats were dispatched as part of the multi-agency search effort, which includes teams from the Coast Guard, San Diego Lifeguards, U.S. Border Patrol, and Harbor Police. Despite hours of effort, none of the six individuals aboard the aircraft have been found.
Witnesses described seeing the aircraft descending at an angle before making a high-speed impact with the water. The sequence suggests the aircraft may have encountered difficulties before the crash, though the cause has not yet been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to investigate the incident further.
Rescue crews plan to continue their search efforts through the night, navigating both challenging sea conditions and the 200-foot depth of the ocean in the area. The Coast Guard has not released the identities of those aboard and said recovery operations are ongoing.
Sunday’s crash adds to a string of recent aviation incidents in California and raises renewed concerns about small aircraft safety. As of late Sunday, no wreckage had been recovered from the ocean floor, and the fate of the passengers remains unknown.
