The Coast Guard has halted efforts to locate the remnants of a small aircraft that plunged into the ocean after departing San Diego, resulting in the deaths of all six individuals on board.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting ongoing investigations to uncover the cause behind Sunday’s crash of the Cessna 414 but currently plans to release no further information until a preliminary report is issued, estimated to be approximately one month away.
The plane’s debris remains submerged several hundred feet underwater, prompting the NTSB investigator to delay visiting the crash site. The accident occurred roughly three miles off the Point Loma coast, a point of land extending into the Pacific from the San Diego area.
Officials have yet to release the identities of the crash victims. The flight was meant to return to Arizona on Sunday, a day after it originally departed from San Diego. Optimal Health Systems, a natural supplements firm from Pima, Arizona, revealed that it had sold the aircraft in 2023 to a group associated with their local community.
Concerns were immediately raised by air traffic controllers when the airplane failed to ascend above 1,000 feet or course-correct eastward after taking off. The pilot experienced difficulties in gaining altitude and maintaining the designated flight path, and issued a series of “Mayday” calls before the aircraft vanished from radar observation.
This recent incident follows only weeks after another small Cessna crashed into a San Diego neighborhood amid poor weather, claiming six lives. These tragic events follow a series of aviation-related disasters this year, commencing with the collision between an airliner and an Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., in January, resulting in 67 fatalities.