Authorities on Monday identified the three people who died after two small planes collided and then crashed at Watsonville Municipal Airport last week.
The victims were identified as 75-year-old Carl Kruppa and 67-year-old Nannette Plett-Kruppa of Winton, California, and 32-year-old Stuart Camenson of Santa Cruz, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Coroner. A dog was also killed in the crash.
There were two people and a dog aboard a twin-engine Cessna 340 and only the pilot aboard a single-engine Cessna 152 during the crash last Thursday, according to National Transportation Safety Board air safety investigator Fabian Salazar.
“We have what appears to be one aircraft operating in a traffic pattern and one aircraft coming into the airport to land,” Salazar said.
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The Cessna 152 was registered to Monterey Bay Aviation Inc., according to FAA records. The aircraft was listed for rent by the hour on the website of United Flight Services, a company based at the airport that provides flight instruction and aircraft rentals and maintenance.
The Cessna 340 was registered to ALM Holding LLC., a company based in Winton, a town in central California.
The city-owned airport does not have a control tower to direct aircraft landing and taking off.
The airport accounts for about 40% of all general aviation activities in the Monterey Bay area, according to the City of Watsonville’s website.
