'They Were Dads First': 5 Die in L.B. Airport Plane Crash Including Tom Dean of Naples, Mark Bixby, Jeff Berger

Updates with statement from survivor Mike Jensen's family and LBUSD spokesman.

Naples resident Tom Dean and Long Beach native son Mark Bixby were among the five who perished when Dean's small plane crashed Wednesday morning after take-off from Long Beach Municipal Airport. Bixby's family has been prominent in Long Beach from its rancho days. The sole survivor, Mike Jensen of Naples, was pulled from the wreckage and in critical condition Wednesday night.

According to the FAA, the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air was bound for Salt Lake City after its 10:30 a.m. take-off. Six men were aboard and bound for a ski trip, friends said. The plane crashed and erupted into flames. The FAA and the NTSB are investigating the cause of the crash, which shut down two of five runways.

The FAA reported that no distress signal was made from the plane. Long Beach Municipal Airport has footage of the crash that will be studied as part of the investigation, authorities said.

Dean's family lives on Treasure Island in the Naples Island community.  A developer, his land holdings include the acreage along Pacific Coast Highway that locals call "the Pumpkin Patch" because every October, the land hosts a popular outdoor carnival with rides and rows of future Jack-o-Lanterns.

Dean and Berger were probably best known for a plan to develop a Home Depot at Studebaker and Loynes that Councilman Gary DeLong and the City Council approved but which ultimately did not go through. More recently, the partners successfully received land elsewhere in Long Beach in return for giving the city some of the wetlands property for future restoration.

Jeff Berger lived in Manhattan Beach with his wife and three young children.

Mike Jensen lives in Naples. Thursday morning, his family released the following statement through Long Beach Memorial:

"Our thoughts and prayers are extended to the families of Mike's friends aboard the plane with him. Thank you for the outpouring of support and overwhelming compassion shown by so many throughout the community of Long Beach. We are eternally grateful to the Long Beach Fire Department, Long Beach Memorial, and the church and cycling communities. We appreciate you affording us this private time with family.''

And Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said in a statement late Wednesday:

"We carry a very heavy heart following today’s tragic accident. These were charismatic men that believed in Long Beach, made a real contribution and worked towards a better community.  Our thoughts and prayers go to their children and their families in this time of unspeakable sadness." 

Councilman DeLong said that he broke the terrible news to the wives of Bixby and Bixby's boss and survivor Jensen, both of whom have three children. DeLong said that Jeff Berger, Dean's business partner, and another business colleague, identified by CNS as Bruce Krall, were among the deceased, as well as the commercial pilot of the plane when it crashed.

Dean leaves behind a widow and four sons of middle school age or younger, DeLong said. Jensen, whose wife is Diane, has three teenage daughters and is a retail consultant and broker for whom Bixby worked, DeLong said. Jensen believes "that every day should be spent helping the community. He's at every charity event I'm at," added DeLong, who represents most of Southern Eastern Long Beach including Belmont Shore and Naples.

He called Bixby and Dean, as well as the crash survivor, Jensen, "very dad-oriented. They loved being dads. When you talked to them...they were very invested in their kids. All three of those individuals were dads first."

"I can remember Tom canceling a meeting on me because he wanted to go see one of his kids' baseball games. It was clear his kids were the most important thing to him."

Berger, Dean's partner, did not live in Long Beach and it was not immediately clear who he is survived by. Bruce Krall is from Orange County and a commercial real estate executive, according to a LinkedIn page. 

Jensen "did better than could be expected" in surgery late Wednesday at Memorial Hospital of Long Beach, DeLong said, and will be undergoing another surgery Thursday for injuries suffered in the fiery crash.

Bixby's family roots in Long Beach date back to their purchase of original ranchos that they farmed and later developed, and their family is deeply involved in the support and legacies of two historical ranchos in Long Beach that remain open to the public. At one time, the Bixby family owned large swaths of land locally,  including what is now Los Alamitos as well as portions of Seal Beach.

A resident of what locals call "The Hole," a neighborhood formally known as University Park Estates, Bixby has been a major bicycling advocate who lobbied the California Coastal Commission to add bike lanes on the upcoming new Gerald Desmond Bridge linking Long Beach to San Pedro. Bixby Knolls is named after his family. He grew up locally and played water polo for Wilson High, as his son does now. 

Long Beach City Auditor Laura Doud and Soma Salon owner Tula Trigonis are among friends planning a memorial for him at 6 p.m. Friday on the bay side of the peninsula, outside his late grandmother's former house, the one with the huge shade tree. The remembrance, which will also honor other crash victims, will be held on the sand outside the house, now owned by a doctor and Bixby friend. The gathering was the result of so many rounds of phone calls Wednesday by Bixby friends, including classmates from Wilson High, class of 1984, that they decided they need to grieve together.

The group was bound for a ski trip to Park City, Utah, which is a half-hour drive from Salt Lake City Airport, DeLong said. Jensen, Dean and Bixby were all personal friends of DeLong, he said.

"When I found out this morning, it wasn't clear if the spouses had been advised, and I thought it would be better to come from someone they knew," said DeLong of Bixby and Jensen's wives. "They're very strong individuals."

DeLong described the victims as leaders in their communities, including Naples, which he described as "one giant family down there." Actually made up of a few islands, Naples is just over the bridge from Belmont Shore.

It was not clear how many of the victims' children attended Naples Bayside Academy, but some did, and the school was aware of the crash. Several of the children of the crash victims attend Long Beach Unified schools, and LBUSD spokesman Chris Eftychiou said Thursday that those children and their classmates were being observed for any problems. Counselors were made available, he said.

DeLong said that the tragedy was a huge blow to the community.

Airport operations director Mario Rodriguez said that witnesses at the municipal airport off Lakewood Boulevard reported the plane getting off the ground, circling twice, then banking hard in an attempt to return to Runway 30. Apparently, he said, the plane touched down on the runway but then crashed. It burst into flames and skidded across a turf section of the airfield, leaving a trail of scorched debris, City News Service reported. The tail section of the plane broke off, and the remainder of the fuselage was burned over.

Prior to today, there had been at least five fatal crashes at the airport since 1980, killing 7 people. The airport's website calls the facility "a hub of corporate activity as well as being one of the world's busiest airports in terms of general aviation activity." It spans 1,166 acres, with five runways, the longest of which is 10,000 feet. 

The Los Angeles County Department of Coroners has not yet identified the victims.

Trigonis said that Bixby was a tremendous photographer, supported Children Today, a charity founded by his wife, Theresa, and was "going to be missed by all of Long Beach."

She said that his son plays water polo at Wilson and he leaves behind two younger daughters as well. Bixby was so considerate, she said, that he saw a car struck by a hit-run driver and pulled over to offer assistance. He would never have mentioned this, she said, but it turned out that he knew the driver, the sister of a mutual friend who told her.

"Didn't surprise me at all," she said tearfully.

"He's one of those guys who comes along once in a lifetime," she added. "He played water polo, and I was the head cheerleader, and we used to kidnap them," she recalled with a sigh. "We all had crushes on him."

 She said that she'd known him since 10th grade.

"He comes from a wealthy family, you meet him and you'd never know.... He's very educated, very smart, doesn't talk down to people, but those blue eyes, that smile. He just made ya happy."

Paige Austin and Kent Zelas contributed to this report.