Remains Recovered from Small Planes Wreckage

Human remains were recovered Sunday as authorities searched the water off San Pedro after a suspected mid-air collision of two small planes left three people missing.

The remains were found about 2 p.m. about two miles outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and will be identified by the coroner’s office, according to sheriff’s Deputy Juanita Navarro.

Recovery efforts being led by the Sheriff’s Emergency Services Detail were later suspended for the day, Navarro said.

A small debris field was found soon after the crash, which occurred about 3:15 p.m. Friday off San Pedro.

Two men, one 61 and the other 81, were believed to be in one plane and a woman was believed to have been piloting the second.

The woman has been identified by her husband as Mary Falstrom, 72, of Torrance.

Rich Falstrom told KNBC4 that his wife had 25 years of experience as a pilot and was a flight attendant when she was younger.

“I’m sure she was just doing her normal routine and apparently didn’t see the other plane, and they didn’t see her,” he told the station.

The two men in the second plane were also from the South Bay area, a Coast Guard official said.

One has been identified by friends as Martin Clement, a Catholic church deacon who worked as financial planner.

The remains found today were located as crews -- including divers and experts on multiple boats using underwater vehicles and sonar equipment -- searched in depths of 90 to 100 feet, according to the sheriff’s department.

Federal Aviation Administration radar records also were being used to help in the search.

The two small aircraft believed to be involved in the crash were described as a Beech 35 Bonanza and a Citabria, according to FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer.

“Local authorities say that two people were aboard the Beech Bonanza and one person was onboard the Citabria,” Kenitzer said.

According to officials, both aircraft were operated out of the Torrance Municipal Airport.

The crew of a fishing boat reported a plane hitting the water on Friday, an official with the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Lifeguards Division said.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said two aircraft appeared on their radar systems shortly before the crash was reported, but then both disappeared. This led investigators to believe there had been a collision, Anderson said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating the crash, according to Kenitzer.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock