Death toll from California mid-air collision rises to five

[August 18, 2015]  By Marty Graham
 
 SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The death toll from a mid-air collision between an executive jet used by military contractor BAE Systems Inc and a small plane over Southern California on Sunday has risen to five, according to a fire department spokesman.

The fiery crash left debris and bodies scattered over more than a mile (1.6 km) and sparked brush fires in the area where the wreckage landed near the U.S border with Mexico, San Diego-based Cal Fire Division Chief Nick Schuler said on Monday.

A twin-engine Sabreliner crashed with a single-engine Cessna 172 at around 11 a.m. on Sunday some two miles (3 km) from Brown Field Airport in San Diego County, Schuler said.

The jet was on a training mission with the U.S. Navy, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator Andrew Swick said. He said the Cessna pilot was practicing so-called "touch and goes," or fast-paced, take-offs and landings.

Four of the dead were traveling on the Sabreliner, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner. The fifth victim was the pilot of the Cessna, which had no known passengers, the examiner's office said.

BAE Systems, a British-based military contractor, on Monday named three employees who were on the Sabreliner.

Carlos Palos, John Kovach and Jeff Percy died in the crash, along with an unidentified contractor, the company said. A spokesman said the three were based in Mojave, California.

"BAE Systems employees send their thoughts and prayers to the family members and co-workers of those killed," it said in a statement. "We are committed to supporting investigators as they work to understand how this collision occurred."

According to its website, the company has a shipyard in San Diego and has contracts with the U.S. Navy to train pilots.

Debris from the collision littered a field west of the airport and caused a 2-acre (8,000-sq meter) brush fire that was put out by firefighters, Schuler said.

No one was injured on the ground, but a firefighter was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion, he said.

"It appears it was a very violent crash, as you can tell by both aircraft being in multiple pieces," Schuler said.

The FAA and the NTSB will investigate what caused the crash, an FAA spokesman said.

(Reporting by Marty Graham; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Sandra Maler)

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.