Plane crash returning from baja 1000

[factoryspy]

this was in the paper

Four men are presumed dead after their small plane crashed into deep, chilly waters about 3 nautical miles west of Dana Point this afternoon, authorities said.

The four occupants, whose bodies have not been recovered, were in Mexico for the Baja 1000 off-road race and were flying in clear weather when their Cessna 210 went down at about 2 p.m. for unknown reasons, said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Tony Migliorini.

The plane is registered to a Newport Beach company, TR Builder Corp., according to Federal Aviation Administration records. The owner, James Baldwin, was a former executive of home-building giant Baldwin Co., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995. James Baldwin was not on the plane, Migliorini said.

James Baldwin's sons, Jason and Josh, are well known competitors in championship off-road racing. It is unclear whether either was aboard the plane. James Baldwin, a former desert racer himself, recently purchased an off-road racing series and relocated it to southern California.

The fixed-wing Cessna, built in 1980, took off from San Felipe, Mexico, Saturday morning and stopped in San Diego for customs purposes, Migliorini said. The plane then left Brown Field Municipal Airport at an unknown time.

It is not clear if John Wayne Airport was the plane’s final destination. An emergency call came in at 2:03 p.m. from Jim Wehan, captain on the historical tallship Spirit of Dana Point, U.S. Coast Guard and Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials said.

Wehan, a crew and about 38 passengers were about 3 miles out on a daysail when he heard first mate John Kraus, 34, yelling from the bow.

At first, Wehan thought Kraus was yelling about dolphins. Then he heard "plane!"

Kraus had been watching the plane fly about 400 feet above the water.

"I thought it was doing a trick, like a corkscrew," he said.

But the plane, less than 100 yards from the boat, kept spiraling down. Kraus realized there was no engine sound.

"I was a little afraid it would hit the boat," he said. "It was coming down fairly quick."

The Cessna hit the water with a loud splash, breaking off the plane’s tail section, Kraus said. It sank within 15 seconds.

"It dropped like a rock," Wehan said. "It was amazing."

Wehan made an emergency "May Day" call and stopped the boat. By the time he ran from the helm to the bow, the plane was disappearing below the surface, leaving a 50-foot area of debris.

Wehan launched inflatable boats and Kraus motored over to the scene of the crash. All he saw was a fuselage door. He smelled airplane fuel in the air.

A Coast Guard Auxiliary boat, a helicopter from Air Station Los Angeles and a Coast Guard Response Boat responded to the emergency call, joined by the Orange County Sheriff’s Dana Point Harbor Patrol.

Kraus saw Coast Guard officials pull a camera bag and food bags from the debris.

"We’re feeling like we were extremely fortunate that it didn’t land right on top of us," Wehan said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Underwater Search and Rescue Team used sonar equipment to locate the wreckage at about 7 p.m., marking the spot and passing the investigation to the Federal Aviation Administration, said Lt. Erin Guidice.

Earlier Saturday, Jason Baldwin finished 19th among four-wheel vehicles out of 342 starters in the Baja 1000, blowing past the finish line in his Ford F-150 at around 2 a.m. after 18 hours behind the wheel, said Dominic Clark, media relations director for SCORE Desert Racing. Josh Baldwin finished ahead of his brother, coming in 11th overall.

In 2004, Jason won the season point championship in the trophy truck division, Clark said.

[factoryspy]

James Baldwin confirmed: he was on the plane.

Josh Baldwin unconfirmed: Unknown if he was on the plane.

[factoryspy]

I made an error

James was not on the plane, Jason was.

Josh still unconfirmed.

[westbrookj71]

very sad

[dunefreak]

sh*tty, Jeremy (onelong61) knows the Baldwins pretty good. My condolences to them.