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Coast Guard halts search for missing airplane off LA County coast
LA County May 11, 2023
A Coast Guard rescue helicopter. | Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard San Diego/Facebook
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U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue personnel suspended their search Thursday morning for three people whose airplane went down about one mile southwest of San Clemente Island.
The Coast Guard was notified shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday by the air traffic control tower on the island regarding the possible plane down, and a debris field was subsequently located, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Levi Read told City News Service.
“We have our Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward searching the area and they will be searching throughout the night and the early morning,” Read told CNS later Wednesday night.
Searchers found the debris field in the ocean about a mile southwest of San Clemente Island, where authorities were sent on a report that an aircraft went down in the area with three civilians aboard.
According to CBS Los Angeles, the operation was officially suspended Thursday around 9 a.m. after a search of 334 square miles in the debris field area yielded negative results.
A crew from Air Station San Diego launched aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter for the search and rescue operation, according to the Coast Guard.
Read said the airplane is a Phoenix Air Learjet owned by Fireside Partners in Delaware.
The search involves personnel from the Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Read said.
The area where the aircraft was reported down is within Los Angeles County, just southwest of Catalina Island.
