BajaNomad

Jason Baldwin (& Brother Josh ?) Feared Dead in Plane Crash

Anonymous - 11-20-2005 at 08:33 AM

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_8...

By GREG HARDESTY and ERICA PEREZ
November 20, 2005

DANA POINT ? Four men are presumed dead after their small plane crashed into deep, chilly waters about three nautical miles west of Dana Point on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

No bodies had been recovered as of late Saturday, but U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Tony Migliorini believed one of the passengers was Jason Baldwin, 35, of Laguna Beach. The Orange County Sheriff's Department would not release passengers' names until the plane was lifted.

The plane is registered to a Newport Beach company, TR Builder Corp. on Newport Center Drive, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. The president of the general contractor is Alfred E. Baldwin, 62, a resident of Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach, public records show. Brothers Alfred and James Baldwin earlier co-owned the Baldwin Co., a homebuilding giant until declared bankrupt in 1995.

Jason Baldwin's father, James, told the Coast Guard as of 4 p.m. Saturday that Baldwin was on the plane, Migliorini said. A man who answered James Baldwin's door Saturday night at his Laguna Beach home said that Baldwin did not want to comment until the rest of his family was notified of what happened. Jason Baldwin and his brother Josh were in Mexico for the Baja 1000 off-road race. The plane was on its way to John Wayne Airport, flying in clear weather, when the Cessna 210 went down at about 2 p.m. for unknown reasons, said Migliorini.

Jason and Josh, 29, are well-known competitors in off-road racing. Their father, James, was not on the plane, Migliorini said. James Baldwin, a former desert racer himself, recently purchased and took over an off-road racing series and moved it to Southern California.

The fixed-wing Cessna, built in 1980, took off from San Felipe, Mexico, Saturday morning and stopped in San Diego for customs purposes, Migliorini said. The plane then left Brown Field Municipal Airport at an unknown time. An emergency call came in at 2:03 p.m. from Jim Wehan, captain on the historical tall ship Spirit of Dana Point.

Wehan, his crew and about 38 passengers were three miles out on a daysail when Wehan heard first mate John Kraus, 34, yelling from the bow.

At first, Wehan thought Kraus was yelling about a dolphin sighting. Then he heard Kraus yell, "Plane!"

Kraus had been watching the plane fly about 400 feet above the water.

"I thought it was doing a trick, like a corkscrew," he said.

But the plane, fewer than 100 yards from the boat, kept spiraling down. Kraus realized there was no engine sound.

"I was a little afraid it would hit the boat," he said. "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.

"It dropped like a rock," Wehan said. "It was amazing."

Wehan made a mayday call and stopped the boat. By the time he ran from the helm to the bow, the plane was disappearing below the surface.

Wehan launched inflatable boats and Kraus motored over to the scene of the crash. All he saw was a fuselage door. He smelled airplane fuel in the air.

A Coast Guard Auxiliary boat, a helicopter from Air Station Los Angeles and a Coast Guard response boat answered the emergency call, joined by the Orange County Sheriff's Dana Point Harbor Patrol.

Kraus saw Coast Guard officials pull a camera bag and food bags from the debris.

"We're feeling like we were extremely fortunate that it didn't land right on top of us," Wehan said.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department Underwater Search and Rescue Team used sonar equipment to find the wreckage at about 7 p.m., marking the spot and passing the investigation to the Federal Aviation Administration, said Lt. Erin Guidice.

The National Transportation Safety Board was expected to lift the plane today or Monday, she said.

Earlier Saturday, Jason Baldwin finished 19th among four-wheel vehicles out of 342 starters in the Baja 1000, blowing past the finish line in his Ford F-150 at around 2 a.m. after 18 hours behind the wheel, said Dominic Clark, media relations director for SCORE Desert Racing. Josh Baldwin finished ahead of his brother, in 11th place.

Anonymous - 11-20-2005 at 12:57 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Anonymous..."I thought it was doing a trick, like a corkscrew,"...no engine sound...coming down fairly quick...breaking off the plane's tail section...sank within 15 seconds...dropped like a rock...
Unless the controls jammed, it sounds like the skipper stalled* and spun in after an engine failure. Ditchings are fairly survivable.

Especially in a retractable like a 210.

*Keep thy airspeed up; lest the earth rise up to smite thee...

I agree with Anon----sounds like a stall-----

Barry A. - 11-20-2005 at 01:12 PM

------after an engine failure. Very easy to do, if you panic. A "stall" can throw you into a spiral, from which you cannot recover without power, and even then it is dicey. What a trajedy!!

For those who don't know: a "stall" happens when the airplane loses speed, thereby causing the wings to lose "lift", which causes the aircraft to flip over uncontrollably and go into a spiral, from which recovery is very often not possible, especially without engine power. Airplanes depend on forward "speed" to maintain controllable flight. When an engine fails, you push the nose down in order for the airplane to maintain speed (it is now coasting), which allows you hopefully to make a "controlled" crash landing-----as long as the aircraft is travelling forward with adaquate speed, you are still in control, sort of. It all happens very fast, and is scary, but survivable, especially over water with retractable landing gear, as Anon said.

If the controls are jammed, then you are out of luck.

thebajarunner - 11-20-2005 at 01:44 PM

Scary (and sad)
I rode a 210 back from the El Mirage land speed event yesterday.
And as an old Baja racer, this one hits close to home.
Condolences to family and friends.

Plane crash dead ID'd

Anonymous - 11-21-2005 at 06:43 AM

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_8...

Off-road racer Jason Baldwin was one of four aboard. Divers expected Tuesday to recover wreckage.

By TIFFANY MONTGOMERY, MONICA RHOR and SARAH TULLY
November 21, 2005

A single-engine plane that plunged into the ocean off Dana Point this weekend, killing four, remained in the sea Sunday as federal investigators waited for divers specializing in deep-water recovery to arrive.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigator said Daniel M. Neuman of Foothill Ranch was the pilot. Well-known off-road racer Jason Baldwin, 35, of Laguna Beach was also on the plane, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Late Sunday, authorities identified the other passengers as Jeffrey Teneyck, a friend of Baldwin's since kindergarten, and Rick Olavson, a friend of Baldwin's from college. No other details were provided on them.

Baldwin's sister, Kelley Renezeder, said the cause of the crash remained unknown Sunday night. While they wait for answers, the family is celebrating the life of a man who "lived life to the fullest," she said.

"It was his time to go. We will all learn in our way why he died," said Renezeder, 39, who last saw her brother Friday, while he competed in Mexico. "He did not die as though he never lived. He lived each day to the fullest."

She said Teneyck, who lived in Wyoming, and Baldwin went to Laguna Beach High School together.

Two Orange County Sheriff's Department Harbor Patrol boats continued to guard the crash site Sunday, retrieving debris that surfaced, including a credit card, a luggage tag, a piece of a seat, and a manual about fixing an airplane engine, said Lt. Erin Giudice.

Divers qualified to submerge to depths of 200 feet are expected to arrive Tuesday, said Nicole Charnon, a NTSB air safety investigator. The divers will probably attach inflatable bags to raise the plane, which will eventually be taken to a secure salvage yard in Lancaster to be examined, Charnon said.

Charnon said the wreckage might not answer the question of why the plane went down because of the damage caused by impact and submersion in the ocean.

Before Saturday's crash, there was no radio communication from the plane. Radar shows the aircraft cruising at 3,500 feet then making "a pretty rapid descent," Charnon said.

The NTSB is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to gather and examine Neuman's pilot records and maintenance reports for the plane.

Neuman was an experienced pilot, certified to operate single and multiengine planes and single-engine sea gliders, according to FAA records. He was also a flight instructor.

News of the crash rattled the close-knit off-road racing community where Jason Baldwin was well known, said Sal Fish, president of SCORE International Off-Road Racing, which sponsors six major races a year.

Earlier Saturday, Baldwin placed 19th in a four-wheel vehicle competition in the 38th annual Baja 1000 race in Ensenada.

Right before Sunday's trophy ceremony, Fish found out about the crash. He told the crowd of between 500 and 600 people that Baldwin was on the plane.

"There was complete silence," Fish said. "They were just shocked. Totally shocked."

James Baldwin, Jason's father and a homebuilding executive who used to own The Baldwin Co. with his brother, Alfred, stopped racing about two years ago.

But he continued to watch his sons Jason and Josh, who began participating in their late teens, Fish said.

The brothers also competed against their brother-in-law, Carl Renezeder. Jason and Josh's mother, Nancy, always attended races with her family.

"They were a very close-knit family. We'd see them and their team together all the time," Fish said.

Even Jason's Baldwin's wife, Evie, raced, according to Dirt Sports Magazine. The magazine said the couple has two daughters, Annabelle and Sabrina Kate.

Jason Baldwin won SCORE's overall championship last year, Fish said.

Baldwin and Neuman family members declined to speak with a reporter Sunday.

Saturday, the fixed-wing Cessna T210N went down close to 2 p.m. about three nautical miles west of Dana Point. Jason Baldwin was on his way back from the Baja race. The plane left San Felipe, Mexico, on Saturday morning, en route to John Wayne Airport when it crashed.

Witnesses on a nearby boat saw the Cessna flying at about 400 feet above the water, then spiraling down into the sea.

John Frank, executive director of the Cessna Pilots Association and a pilot, mechanic and flight instructor, offered two possible explanations for the crash: pilot incapacitation or structural failure.

If a pilot was incapacitated for some reason, the plane would be out of control when it hit the water - just how witnesses described the crash. Also, if the plane was carrying too heavy a load and the pilot was not paying close attention, the plane could stall and then spin in certain circumstances, Frank said.

Since 2000, federal records show five Cessna T210N planes have been involved in fatal crashes.

According to FAA records, the cause of three of the accidents varied from improper maintenance to a pilot failing to maintain aircraft control to a pilot failing to maintain adequate altitude above mountainous terrain.

Baja 1000 competitor dies in plane crash on way back from race

Taco de Baja - 11-21-2005 at 08:28 AM

Quote:


Sunday, November 20, 2005
4 lost in plane crash
Cessna plunges into ocean off Dana Point as passengers and crew on nearby historic ship watch. Wreckage may be lifted as early as today.

By GREG HARDESTY and ERICA PEREZ
The Orange County Register


DANA POINT ? Four men are presumed dead after their small plane crashed into deep, chilly waters about three nautical miles west of Dana Point on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

No bodies had been recovered as of late Saturday, but U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Tony Migliorini believed one of the passengers was Jason Baldwin, 35, of Laguna Beach. The Orange County Sheriff's Department would not release passengers' names until the plane was lifted.

The plane is registered to a Newport Beach company, TR Builder Corp. on Newport Center Drive, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. The president of the general contractor is Alfred E. Baldwin, 62, a resident of Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach, public records show. Brothers Alfred and James Baldwin earlier co-owned the Baldwin Co., a homebuilding giant until declared bankrupt in 1995.

Jason Baldwin's father, James, told the Coast Guard as of 4 p.m. Saturday that Baldwin was on the plane, Migliorini said. A man who answered James Baldwin's door Saturday night at his Laguna Beach home said that Baldwin did not want to comment until the rest of his family was notified of what happened. Jason Baldwin and his brother Josh were in Mexico for the Baja 1000 off-road race. The plane was on its way to John Wayne Airport, flying in clear weather, when the Cessna 210 went down at about 2 p.m. for unknown reasons, said Migliorini.

Jason and Josh, 29, are well-known competitors in off-road racing. Their father, James, was not on the plane, Migliorini said. James Baldwin, a former desert racer himself, recently purchased and took over an off-road racing series and moved it to Southern California.

The fixed-wing Cessna, built in 1980, took off from San Felipe, Mexico, Saturday morning and stopped in San Diego for customs purposes, Migliorini said. The plane then left Brown Field Municipal Airport at an unknown time. An emergency call came in at 2:03 p.m. from Jim Wehan, captain on the historical tall ship Spirit of Dana Point.

Wehan, his crew and about 38 passengers were three miles out on a daysail when Wehan heard first mate John Kraus, 34, yelling from the bow.

At first, Wehan thought Kraus was yelling about a dolphin sighting. Then he heard Kraus yell, "Plane!"

Kraus had been watching the plane fly about 400 feet above the water.

"I thought it was doing a trick, like a corkscrew," he said.

But the plane, fewer than 100 yards from the boat, kept spiraling down. Kraus realized there was no engine sound.

"I was a little afraid it would hit the boat," he said. "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.

"It dropped like a rock," Wehan said. "It was amazing."

Wehan made a mayday call and stopped the boat. By the time he ran from the helm to the bow, the plane was disappearing below the surface.

Wehan launched inflatable boats and Kraus motored over to the scene of the crash. All he saw was a fuselage door. He smelled airplane fuel in the air.

A Coast Guard Auxiliary boat, a helicopter from Air Station Los Angeles and a Coast Guard response boat answered the emergency call, joined by the Orange County Sheriff's Dana Point Harbor Patrol.

Kraus saw Coast Guard officials pull a camera bag and food bags from the debris.

"We're feeling like we were extremely fortunate that it didn't land right on top of us," Wehan said.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department Underwater Search and Rescue Team used sonar equipment to find the wreckage at about 7 p.m., marking the spot and passing the investigation to the Federal Aviation Administration, said Lt. Erin Guidice.

The National Transportation Safety Board was expected to lift the plane today or Monday, she said.

Earlier Saturday, Jason Baldwin finished 19th among four-wheel vehicles out of 342 starters in the Baja 1000, blowing past the finish line in his Ford F-150 at around 2 a.m. after 18 hours behind the wheel, said Dominic Clark, media relations director for SCORE Desert Racing. Josh Baldwin finished ahead of his brother, in 11th place.

Article

[Edited on 11-21-2005 by Taco de Baja]

TMW - 11-21-2005 at 04:56 PM

That's very sad. I wish them all Gods Speed.

Plane Crash off Orange County Flying Up From San Felipe

sancho - 11-22-2005 at 11:19 AM

LA Times reports a small plane coming back from the
Baja 1000 Sun.,crashes in the Pacific off of Dana Point,
3 lives lost, reported to be carrying a driver
from the race, plane is part of a crew
named Baldwin

Divers Find Downed Plane Off O.C., Recover Bodies of Pilot and 3 Others

Anonymous - 11-23-2005 at 01:31 AM

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me-plane23nov23,1...

By Mai Tran, Times Staff Writer
November 23, 2005

Though hampered by swift currents and a troublesome anchor line, deep-sea divers Tuesday found four bodies inside the small plane that crashed over the weekend off Dana Point, authorities said.

The search team, assisted by a robot, reached the wreckage of the Cessna 210 about 3 p.m. after currents swept one diver hundreds of yards from the crash site and another became tangled in an anchor line.

Both had to be placed in a decompression chamber, delaying the recovery effort for several hours.

Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said divers finally located the single-engine plane in 218 feet of water. It was upside-down. The pilot and one passenger were still in the front seats, and the other two passengers were in the back of the cabin.

Relatives have identified one of the passengers as race-truck driver Jason Baldwin, 35, of Laguna Beach, the son of developer James Baldwin.

The pilot was Daniel Neuman, 51, of Foothill Ranch, who regularly flew members of the Baldwin family and their friends to racing events.

Family members identified the other passengers as Rick Olauson, 36, of Long Beach, and Jeffrey TenEyck, 35, of Jackson Hole, Wyo. Both are longtime friends of Jason Baldwin.

As the divers worked, a priest and about 50 relatives of the crash victims waited all day on a boat nearby. They shared stories about the men, held hands and prayed.

"Today, we spent a life-changing day together," said Kelley Renezeder, the sister of Jason Baldwin. "It was amazing. Our families will forever have this bond."

During the long wait, a school of dolphins swam by the port side of the relatives' boat.

"It was a touching moment, a final farewell," said Renezeder, who held a rose.

"It brought our families peace knowing the men loved the water."

The aircraft, owned by the Baldwin Co., was returning from an off-road vehicle competition in Baja California when it crashed shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday about three miles offshore. It took off from San Felipe, Mexico, and was headed to John Wayne Airport.

Amormino said the search was halted for two hours after a diver became entangled in an anchor line. Swift currents later pushed a second diver about 200 yards from the wreckage.

A third diver, he said, was able to reach the plane.

At 6:30 p.m., a team of 10 divers removed the bodies from the aircraft after a salvage barge lifted it to a depth of 30 feet. The pilot and one of the passengers had to be cut from their seat belts.

The team of three commercial divers and seven from the Orange County Harbor Patrol was in the water about 20 minutes.

Sheriff's Lt. Erin Giudice said the aircraft was pulled up with cables and arrived at the surface largely intact. The wreckage was hauled to Dana Point and will be transported to Lancaster for analysis by National Transportation Safety Board investigators.