Rescue teams are searching the northern part of San Francisco Bay on Monday for a pilot of a small plane after two planes collided while heading home from an air and auto show, authorities said.
While one aircraft crashed into the water, the other one reached its destination safely, the Associated Press reported.
Although searchers were able to find some debris from the 1965 Cessna 210 that collided with a single-engine Hawker Sea Fury TMK 20 late Sunday, the teams were unable to locate the downed pilot after scouring San Pablo Bay through the night, Coast Guard Petty Officer Loumania Stewart said early Monday.
Although the Cessna crashed into the bay, the Sea Fury's pilot was able to land 40 minutes later at Eagle's Nest Airport in the small Northern California city of Ione, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
The pilot and passenger in the Sea Fury, a husband and a wife, were not injured, county Undersheriff Jim Wegner said. They refused medical treatment after Amador County firefighters and medics were sent to tend to them at the lone airport.
"Both planes had departed from Eagle's Nest Airport to participate in the Pacific Coast Dream Machines, an annual festival at Half Moon Bay Airport that features a variety of planes, motorcycles and cars. Both planes left Half Moon Bay, about 20 miles south of San Francisco, and were on their return flight to Ione," the AP reported.
The Cessna was described as spiraling out of control and crashing into the choppy water by witnesses at Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor, they told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Citing an ongoing investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board, the damage sustained by the Sea Fury couldn't be discussed, Wagner said.
The vintage Sea Fury involved in Sunday's collision was registered to Sanders Aircraft Inc.
Sanders Aeronautics' website said the family-run company specializes in aircraft restoration, and brothers Dennis and Brian Sanders are avid air racers, according to the AP.
