A small plane that belongs to the founder of a local steel company has crashed on the peninsula and three people are presumed dead.
Helicopter video above the crash scene near Redwood City showed a plane upsidedown with one wing sticking out of the water in an area lagoon.
There were no emergency officials at the crash site in the early minutes after the crash. Only a small fishing boat and a kayak. One person was swimming in the water searching for survivors in an orange life vest. Other people had apparently already taken one victim to shore.
The crashed happened around noon Thursday. The plane crashed within a few feet to waterfront homes with docks in their backyards and directly outside an office complex.
An employee of R.E. Borrmann's Steel Co. said 92-year-old Robert Borrmann, along with his girlfriend and a pilot were on the plane. "His son Paul, who runs the company, heard about the crash and sent one of the guys from the shop down there. It was his plane," Charlene Marshall told the Associated Press.
A 40 year old was pulled from the wreckage, but the two other victims remained in the murky waters Thursday afternoon. The water is only five to six foot deep.
A fire chief on the scene says the plane was 1961 Beech 65 Queen Air and that it had just departed from Hiller Airport on its way to San Martin.
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Divers were hindered in their rescue efforts Thursday because this is the same lagoon that had a 48,000-gallon sewage spill last week. County officials have barred access to the lagoon because of high amounts of E.coli and other bacteria. Three or four passers-by jumped into those waters hoping to save someone. Hopefully, they won't get sick.
Bay City news talked to Bob Wood, a flight instructor at Diamond Aviation. He said he saw the plane depart from the San Carlos Airport. "I really enjoyed watching the plane take off - it sounds like an airplane used to sound like, really throaty," Wood said. "So when I heard it went down it was very, very shocking," he said. "It was as normal takeoff with normal altitude."
An article posteed on the steel company's website said Borrmann bought a Beech Queen Air that once belonged to the king of Denmark.
Below is the first ground video we are getting from the scene.
