3 victims ID'd after after deadly Monterey Bay plane crash, sheriff says

PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (KGO) -- NTSB investigators are headed to California, where three people died after a small plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monterey.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the twin engine Beechcraft took off from the San Carlos airport late Saturday night with three people on board.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office has identified the three people killed in the crash. They are Salinas resident Steve Eugene Clatterbuck, 60, and Monterey residents James Vincent, 36, and Jamie Lee Tabscott, 44.

A grim search mission was happening off the coast of Pacific Grove where a small plane with three passengers on board crashed at about 10:40 p.m. Saturday night. The crash happened approximately 200 to 300 yards from Point Pinos, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Ron Beach heard the plane circling low.

"We heard it come around a second time really low. Last thing we heard was a thump. We threw everything on and ran out of the house. There were 30 people on the beach who heard the same thing," Beach said.

Multiple agencies, including the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, searched overnight for debris in the ocean.

By daybreak Sunday, some wreckage from the plane had washed ashore.

The first victim was found unresponsive in the water by a crew aboard a Monterey Fire Department boat at about 3:08 a.m. Sunday. The other two were found still in the fuselage, which was discovered by a Cal Fire drone just before 6 a.m., according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Graves.

Commercial divers recovered the first of those bodies at about 6:30 a.m. and recovered the other by about 9:08 a.m., Graves said.

About 100 square miles was covered during the search, according to a Coast Guard news release.

Video showed the plane's wheel and parts washed ashore the nearby state beach Sunday morning.

The FAA says the plane was a twin-engine Beechcraft B-55 Baron.

Investigators say the plane took off from the San Carlos Airport just after 10 p.m. heading to the Monterey Regional Airport.

"It's very sad anytime you hear an accident in aviation, especially those who don't come back from it. It does hit home, because I'm a pilot," said Elias Viss.

Pilots we spoke with did not know anyone on board but talked about the challenges of flying down to the Central Coast.

"On a day like this, when it's sunny, it's beautiful. It's clear here but Monterey might be overcast, so you need to make sure you're proficient and current," said pilot Andreas Schobel.

The FAA says the plane was manufactured in 1974 and was registered to a Delaware aviation company.

It's still unclear what went wrong in the final minutes of the flight.

In a statement, the National Transportation Safety Board told ABC7 News: "An NTSB investigator is expected to be on scene Monday. NTSB does not conduct recovery efforts, however; once the aircraft has been recovered, the investigator will begin documenting the scene, examining the aircraft."

Fellow pilots in San Carlos, are hoping to get more details on the crash soon.

"We just hope there's always something we can learn from it," Viss said.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

Stay with ABC7 News for the latest details on this developing story.