Six US nationals dead in Mexico plane crash

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Sunday, October 15 5:51 AM SGT

Six US nationals dead in Mexico plane crash TIJUANA, Mexico, Oct 14 (AFP) - Six US nationals died when the small private airplane in which they were travelling crashed at Ensenada, northern Mexico, local authorities said Saturday.

At a press conference, municipal police commander Jesus Velez identified the victims as Michael Cala, Mervin Webster, Elen Goldesenn, Edith Lowster, Debra Wayne and Drya Caen.

All were members of a humanitarian organization, he said.

Sunday, October 15 5:51 AM SGT

Six US nationals dead in Mexico plane crash TIJUANA, Mexico, Oct 14 (AFP) - Six US nationals died when the small private airplane in which they were travelling crashed at Ensenada, northern Mexico, local authorities said Saturday.

At a press conference, municipal police commander Jesus Velez identified the victims as Michael Cala, Mervin Webster, Elen Goldesenn, Edith Lowster, Debra Wayne and Drya Caen.

All were members of a humanitarian organization, he said.

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), October 15, 2000

Answers

Oct 14, 2000 - 10:50 PM

Plane Crashes in Ensenada; Six Californians Killed The Associated Press

ENSENADA, Mexico (AP) - A small airplane crashed Saturday near a Mexican military base in Baja California state, killing six Americans working with a volunteer doctors group, police and the doctors organization said. The plane, flown by the U.S. group Flying Doctors, went down about 11 a.m. while trying to land at the Area 3 military air base outside Ensenada, a coastal city about 50 miles south of the border with California, said police official Jesus Luna. No one on the ground was hurt, he said.

The plane, a six-seat Cessna 320E, crashed in a residential area near the airport as it tried to land, said Ensenada police Subcommander Rosario Flores Rojas. He said it narrowly missed several houses and went down in an empty lot.

Four women and two men, all California residents, were aboard, said Dr. Stephen Los, a dentist and president of the group's Monterey, Calif., chapter. Names were not immediately released because relatives were still being notified, he said.

"I'm pretty shocked by the whole thing," Los said.

Monty Finefrock, a pilot and president of the Los Gatos, Calif., chapter of the group, said the six passengers had been at a seminar focused on building a working relationship with Mexico, where the group provides free medical care.

The government news agency Notimex quoted police Commander Jesus Eduardo Velez as saying the plane was leaking fuel and caught on fire after rescue workers arrived at the crash site, less than a half-mile from the airport runway. But Rojas said he didn't believe the plane caught on fire.

Air base commander Sergio Alejandro Escobar told Notimex the plane was en route from San Ignacio, about 400 miles south of Ensenada, and had received authorization to land from the control tower.

Rojas said the crew never reported an emergency, but that the plane appeared to have been having engine trouble prior to the crash.

"It seems it was coming in too low," he said.

The white airplane, which had a blue stripe and a brown stripe, was built in 1967. It had no record of maintenance problems. The skies were clear and there wasn't strong wind, Rojas said.

A witness to the accident, Romel Ramirez, who was working at a factory nearby, told Notimex that he saw the airplane do a somersault in the air and then heard the engine cut out.

In May, three Northern California volunteers for a medical assistance group died when their single-engine plane plunged into the Pacific Ocean on a return trip from a weekend mission in Baja California. http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAQ4XL4CEC.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), October 15, 2000.


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