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Sad New From the Off-Road World

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
I thought I would share some sad news from the off-road world. Jason Baldwin was killed in a plane crash, while flying home from the Baja 1000. Here's the full-story...

Four believed dead in plane crash off Orange County coast

Associated Press

DANA POINT, Calif. - Off-road racer Jason Baldwin was believed to be among four people who were killed when a small plane crashed and was submerged under 200 feet of water off the Orange County coast, authorities said Sunday.

A sheriff's underwater search and recovery team located the nearly intact Cessna 210 by sonar after it went down shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday about three miles from Dana Point, said Sgt. Karl Von Voight of the Orange County sheriff's Harbor Patrol.

Four people were believed to have been aboard the plane but none of their bodies had yet been recovered. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will attempt to raise the plane out of the ocean on Monday, Von Voight said.

Although no identities were released, one of the people believed to have been on board was off-road racer Jason Baldwin. The 35-year-old Laguna Beach resident was part of a family racing team, which included his brother, Josh. Both men participated in the SCORE Desert Racing Series and the Championship Off-Road Racing short course series.

Their father told authorities that Jason Baldwin was on the plane, said Lt. Tony Migliorini of the U.S. Coast Guard. It wasn't immediately known if Josh Baldwin was aboard.

"Apparently they were down in San Felipe, Mexico for the Baja 1000 off-road race," Migliorini said.

Baldwin finished 19th out of 342 starters in the race after driving 18 hours in his Ford F-150, said Dominic Clark, media relations director for SCORE Desert Racing. Josh Baldwin finished ahead of his brother in 11th place.

The plane had taken off from San Felipe and stopped at Brown Field in San Diego County for customs purposes, Migliorini said. The aircraft was apparently headed to John Wayne Airport when a boater saw the crash and notified authorities.

Jim Wehan, the captain of a historical tall ship said he and some of his crew, said they saw the plane fly about 400 feet above the water and then spiral downward.

"I was a little afraid it would hit the boat," first mate John Kraus, 34, told the Orange County Register. "It was coming down fairly quick."

The Cessna hit the water with a loud splash, breaking off the plane's tail section, Kraus said. It sank within 15 seconds.

The cause of the crash was under investigation.
 

Pip3r

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2001
1,112
0
Foxboro MA
man thats terrible, and yet oddly ironic considering most people would consider the baja way more dangerous than flying. reminds you to live life to the fullest
 

kinghami3

Future Turbo Monkey
Jun 1, 2004
2,239
0
Ballard 4 life.
Pip3r said:
man thats terrible, and yet oddly ironic considering most people would consider the baja way more dangerous than flying. reminds you to live life to the fullest
If at first you don't succeed...