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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Divers on Wednesday recovered the body of a pilot in the wreckage of a small plane that collided in midair with another aircraft and plunged into the ocean outside the Port of Los Angeles.
The plane and the woman's body were brought to the surface around 10 a.m., said a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The Citabria, a single-engine aerobatic plane, was discovered Monday evening about a mile from the original crash site, according to the statement.
A second plane and the bodies of two men aboard were recovered Sunday.
A massive search was launched Friday after a plane piloted by a 72-year-old woman was seen on radar colliding with a craft carrying men ages 61 and 81 off San Pedro, just outside the harbor.
Authorities used sonar devices and remote-operated underwater vehicles.
Authorities have not released any identities, but the woman's husband identified her as Mary Falstrom of Torrance.
Richard Falstrom said his wife, a longtime pilot, told him Friday that she was going on a plane ride to enjoy the sunny weather. Hours later came the news of the collision.
Richard Falstrom believes his wife died doing something that gave her great joy. "She loved flying. It was a passion," he told The Associated Press.
His wife was a member of The Ninety-Nines, Inc., an international organization of women pilots, and he said she volunteered at the Western Museum of Flight at Torrance Airport, from which she and the other plane took off Friday.
The plane carrying the men was a Beech 35 Bonanza, said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The crash site was near the Angels Gate light, a lighthouse at the San Pedro Breakwater that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The area is popular for flight students.
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