2 Female Pilots Killed in Crash Of Small Plane
They were returning from aviation meeting
Mark Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, October 16, 2000
MONTEREY -- Two Sacramento women who had spent the weekend at a conference for female pilots died when their single-engine airplane plunged into Monterey Bay about a half-mile from the beach yesterday afternoon. Sightseers strolling on the beach reported the downed plane, which had just left nearby Monterey Peninsula Airport at about 12:45 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard reported. ``They were in the air for less than a minute,'' said Lt. Alan Tubbs of the Coast Guard. Authorities said fog may have played a role in the crash, which killed Betty Alair, 65, and Shirley Lehr, 70, as they started their return to Sacramento. The two women were aboard Alair's Beechcraft plane, but it was not clear last night who was piloting the craft. ``Witnesses said they heard the plane sputtering, then they saw the splash,'' said Mike Ventimiglia, division chief with the Monterey Fire Department. The plane reached an altitude of about 1,500 feet before suddenly diving down out of the fog, witnesses said. According to their account, the plane pulled up just before hitting the water, then flipped as the pilot fought to stay aloft. After flipping, the plane dove into the water, breaking apart instantly, they said. Investigators believe that the pilot may have been disoriented by the fog. Coast Guard and Monterey Fire Department crews recovered the victims and debris from the plane in about 60 feet of water directly in front of the Monterey Beach Hotel on Sand Dunes Road. Most of the plane remained under water yesterday, Ventimiglia said. Crews are expected to retrieve the remainder of the plane today as the National Transportation and Safety Board begins its investigation. The women had been in town for a three-day meeting of the International Organization of Women Pilots, officials said. The crash occurred in roughly the same spot as the crash that killed country singer John Denver when his experimental aircraft plunged into Monterey Bay on Oct. 13, 1997.
Monterey County Herald October, 15, 2000
Monterey County Herald October 17, 2000
Monterey County Herald October, 19,2000
