Mother of Jesuit High School student dies in Marin Headlands plane crash
MARIN, Calif. - One of two people who died in a small plane that crashed in the Marin Headlands has been identified.
Jennifer "JJ" Fox, a parent of a student at Jesuit High School, is one of the two people killed, according to Sacramento station KCRA. The school sent a letter to parents and indicated a friend of Fox also died in the crash. Neither victim had been officially identified by aviation officials as of Saturday evening.
The plane was found Friday afternoon at about 1:45 p.m., roughly an hour-and-half after officials with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area say they were notified that an aircraft locator beacon had gone off in the area, indicating a plane had likely gone down.
Saturday afternoon’s sunny skies clearly revealed the hillside wreckage of the plane, which hit the hillside like a dart being dropped into the ground.
"Both occupants of the aircraft perished in the crash," said NTSB Investigator Eleazar Nepomuceno.
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Video from Friday shows Fog covering much of the surrounding area during the time of the crash. Investigators say they'll be looking into conditions as a possible contributing factor. The weather was bad enough to deter sightseers.
"We were planning on hiking up here yesterday but I mean it was so foggy I mean you couldn't see anything. You couldn’t see the city, you couldn't see any peaks, good view points so we decided to pass yesterday," said Christina Pak-Murashov, visiting from North Carolina.,
The experimental single-engine four-seater, a Van's RV-10, left Sacramento Executive Airport just before 11:30 a.m. according to flight tracker, but investigators gave no known destination.
It was airborne for about 41 minutes before circling, then crashing next to a scenic lookout near the Golden Gate Bridge.
"It's horrendous, yeah. It's a tragedy you hate to hear anything like that ever happens," said Will Young, who was sightseeing in the area with his girlfriend.
Though one vitim has been identified through unofficial sources, investigators have not released the identities of the deceased and say they'll be examining the ratings and certificates of the pilot. They're also asking potential witnesses to contact the NTSB at witness@NTSB.gov. But there may be few.
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"It was a very quiet visitor day because the weather was pretty nasty up here," said Charlie Strickfaden, Park Spokesman for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Within 15 business days, the NTSB says it will issue a preliminary report on the crash, a tragic event that's captured lots of attention.
"We consider this a very rare event and no real trends and nothing in recent memory that this is similar to," said Strickfaden.
The plan is to remove the wreckage from the hillside Sunday, which might require some temporary road closures in the area.
The NTSB says a full report on the exact cause of the crash could take up to 12 months.