Three Survive Cessna Crash Near Napa Airport

May 30, 2007
Cessna 206 landed upside-down shortly after engine trouble was reported

NAPA COUNTY - A single-engine plane crashed Monday morning in marshland north of Highway 37, officials said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said two people aboard received minor injuries and a third escaped unharmed in the 7:30 a.m. crash near Buchli Station Road, about 3.5 miles southwest of Napa County Airport.

Pilot and owner Norman Pease, 70, of Orinda and passengers Otis McCain, 62, of Lafayette and Kenneth Crain, 84, of Orinda all were taken to a medical center in Napa, sheriff's Capt. John Robertson said.

The Cessna 206, built in 1977, landed upside-down in the marsh shortly after Pease reported trouble with his engine, Gregor said. The exact cause of the crash was not immediately determined.

Gregor said he did not know the speed or altitude at which the plane was traveling when it went down, but he said the six-seat aircraft "was pretty badly damaged."

The pilot found a suitable place to make an off-site landing, Robertson said, but when the nose wheel touched down in mud, it caused the plane to flip forward. The men got out of the plane and called 9-1-1 to report the crash.

Gregor said Peace was headed from Concord to Napa airport, a distance of about 28 miles by land vehicle. About 10 minutes into flight, Pease radioed to report a rough-running engine.

The pilot told air traffic control officials he wanted to continue to Napa rather than return, Gregor said.

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