Plane Crashes Into Water in San Diego Bay

Plane in San Diego Bay

Asunny Memorial Day weekend flight ended in a panic as a small single engine plane slammed into the San Diego Bay, narrowly missing a waterfront hotel and shocking onlookers.

The plane, a cessna-152 operated by Aerial Advertising, was flying a banner that read “Honor our Heroes” over the USS Midway aircraft carrier Saturday.

At about 600 feet in the air, the engine shuddered to a stop.

One of the two pilots on board, Ron, who wanted to be identified only his first name, said the pair knew right away they were in serious trouble.

“You prepare for it, but you don’t ever want it to happen,” he told ABC News San Diego affiliate KGTV.

“After the engine failure… it was just a matter of dropping the banner, get a little better glide out of it… There was no way I was going to make land,” Ron said.

Thinking quickly, they lined up with a clear portion of the bay and glided to startling, but safe landing.

“It was just a matter of getting the door open and getting the seatbelts off and got out of it,” Ron said.

Nearby boaters and the Coast Guard quickly came to their rescue and the two escaped without injury.

Paul Parcel, one of the good Samaritans who helped rescue the men told KGTV that he knew the plane was in trouble before it even came down.

“I saw the airplane turn from the Midway,” Parcel said the station. “I noticed that he was losing altitude and he kept coming down lower and lower.”

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U.S. News: 3 rescued from plane crash site in remote Idaho

The Owyhee County Sheriff's office shows the site where a small plane crashed in rugged terrain in a remote area in Owyhee County in southwest Idaho on Sunday, May 27, 2012.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Hours after their plane crashed on a steep and snowy mountainside in Idaho, a California fireman, his wife and their adult daughter were airlifted to safety by National Guard rescuers.

The family was en route from California to Mountain Home, Idaho, when their Cessna 172 went down at about 9 p.m. MDT Saturday, leaving them with head and back injuries, officials said.

One of the three used a cellphone just after midnight to report that they had survived the crash.

A medical helicopter located the wreckage Sunday morning, but white-out conditions prevented the aircraft crew from carrying out an immediate rescue, said Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard.

Rescuers on foot traveling through 6-foot snow drifts and on 60 degree slopes reached the crash site first. They wrapped the family members in blankets and built a fire until a military helicopter could lift them out with a hoist.

"It was inhospitable for a landing," Marsano said. "The use of the helicopter was indispensable for this type of rescue operation."

The three were flown one at a time to a landing area about a half-mile from War Eagle Mountain in southwest Idaho's Owyhee County.

The first person came out about noon and the last at about 2 p.m., and each was transferred to a medical helicopter and flown to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise where they were listed in stable condition.

It's unclear what caused the Cessna to go down. Photos taken by rescuers showed significant damage, including a broken front windshield.

Authorities identified them as Brian Brown of Wilton, Calif., his wife Jayann Brown, and their daughter. Her name was not immediately available.

Brian Brown is a captain at the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department in Elk Grove, Calif. He is also Deputy Chief of Operation and Training with the nearby volunteer Wilton Fire Protection District.

Wilton Fire Chief Tom Dark said the couple was flying with their youngest daughter to Mountain Home to visit their oldest daughter. He was relieved they were in stable condition.

"That was our first concern, how he and the family were doing," said Dark. "Knowing what a good pilot he is, something had to have happened."

Dark said it was probably an unusual experience for Brown, a firefighter for more than two decades, to be on the other end of a rescue.

"When the shoe is on the other foot it's kind of strange," he said.

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'Black box' found of Russia jet in Indonesia crash

Rescuers prepare a body bag containing the remains of a victim of the crash of Sukhoi Superjet-100 on the peak of Mount Salak, West Java, Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesian special forces have found the voice-and-data recorder of a new Russian passenger jet that slammed into a jagged, mist-shrouded cliff on a dormant volcano, an official said Wednesday.

The "black box" could help explain the cause of the deadly crash of the Sukhoi Superjet 100, which had been on a short demonstration flight for potential buyers. Search and Rescue agency spokesman Gagah Prakoso said it was found near the tail of the shattered wreck at the bottom of a 1,500-foot (500-meter) ravine.

The device was delivered to investigators late Tuesday. It was badly burned and lost its orange color, making it harder for search teams to find it among the trees and heavy brush, Prakoso said.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 - Russia's first passenger jet model since the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago - was being demonstrated for potential buyers when it roared into Mount Salak at 800 kph (480 mph) on May 9. All 45 people on board were killed.

Tatang Kurniadi, who heads the National Commission on Safety Commission, said he and his Russian colleagues would make a joint official announcement about the black box later Wednesday.

He added that data retrieved from the device would be analyzed in Indonesia, with assistance from Russian experts.

The Superjet is Russia's first new model of passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago, and is intended to help resurrect its aerospace industry. The plane was being demonstrated for representatives of Indonesia's fast-expanding domestic airlines, which are among its biggest potential buyers.

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Plane crashes into Philippines slum, kills 13

Plane crashed in Philippines

A light aircraft has crashed into a crowded slum near Manila's international airport, killing 13 people, including three children.

Three people were unaccounted for and about 10 others were injured after the twin-engine, four-seater plane crashed shortly after take-off, police inspector Enrique Sy told reporters. All three on board were killed.

"So far, we have recovered 13 badly burned bodies in the crash site, including one near the wreckage," he said, adding it was impossible to identify the victims.

Paranaque city mayor, Florencio Bernabe, said hundreds of residents were left homeless by a fire sparked by the crash. It destroyed dozens of shanty homes and part of a three-storey school building. 

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