December 20, 1968: Two California Civil Air Patrol Members Killed While Searching for Missing Airplane

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On this date, two members of the California Civil Air Patrol were killed when their search plane crashed into Tecate Peak in California while searching for a missing Piper Cherokee PA-28-100.  The Piper had indeed crashed killing all three on board.  That plane was located December 24, 1968.

An excerpt from LOSTFLIGHTS:

As the flight progressed westerly towards San Diego, the turbulence and visibilty became increasingly worse near the mountainous Laguna Range. Fighting turbulence and spatial disorientation, it was not long before the single-engine Piper departed controlled flight (possible in-flight breakup) and impacted the snow covered slopes of Cuyapaipe Mountain fifty miles east of it's destination. All three were killed.

The next day an air search was mounted for the missing aircraft which was mostly conducted in poor weather conditions. Tragedy struck twice while in the process of the search, two members of the local Civil Air Patrol were killed when their own plane collided with nearby Tecate Peak. 

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