The Associated Press
LONG BEACH, Calif. — The Coast Guard suspended its search Tuesday for at least three people missing after two small planes collided in flight off the Southern California coast.
Helicopters, boats and divers searched a 160-square mile area off Long Beach Harbor but did not find any signs of survivors, the Coast Guard said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will continue to search underwater for plane wreckage and to recover debris. Debris recovered since the crash Monday night included a seat cushion, nosewheel and several pieces of fuselage.
The planes collided after taking off from Long Beach Airport. The pilot of another small plane reported the crash.
One plane, a Cessna single-engine 172, was occupied by a student pilot and a flight instructor. “We think this was an instructional flight,” said Ian Gregor, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plane is registered to Aero Aviation, a flight school based at Long Beach Airport. A phone message left at the school’s office was not returned.
Gregor said no information was available about the occupants of the other plane, a Cessna 310 twin-engine.
The Coast Guard, the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Long Beach Fire Department deployed a helicopter and rescue boats to search the ocean for debris through the night.
One debris field was located about five miles south of the Long Beach breakwater, while the other was found about three miles northeast of the first, Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Stephanie Young said.