Five Perish As Small Plane Crashes On Departure From LB Airport This Morning, Engulfed In Flames

LBReport.com has collected statements received from civic officials and groups in a separate story, here.

(Mar. 16, 2011, updated Mar. 17) -- A private aircraft (Twin-engine Beech Craft King Air Turbo-Prop) took off from LB Airport at midmorning today (Mar. 16), circled the airport and for reasons thus far unexplained was attempting to land (with no distress/trouble call sent) when it impacted, burst into flames.

The crash took the lives of five of six people aboard who included LB investor Tom Dean, his business partner Jeff Berger, and Pacific Retail Partners principal/civic figure Mark Bixby. A sixth passenger, identified as Mike Jensen of Pacific Retail Partners, survived the crash and is hospitalized.

UPDATE, March 17: This morning, the family of Mike Jensen has issued this statement released by LB Memorial Hospital:

"Our thoughts and prayers are extended to the families of Mike’s friends aboard the plane with him. Thank you for the outpour of support and overwhelming compassion shown by so many throughout the community of Long Beach. We are eternally grateful to the Long Beach Fire Department, Long Beach Memorial, and the church and cycling communities. We appreciate you affording us this private time with family. s/ Jensen Family"

LB Memorial Hospital says Mr. Jensen's condition "remains critical. At this time, the family has requested that the only information released to the media is his condition status." [End update]

Messrs. Dean and Berger through an LLC acquired the Los Cerritos wetlands, and in a transaction approved by a divided City Council, swapped 30+ acres of the property for most of the city-owned Public Service Yard, then sold the Public Service Yard property to another entity several months later. Through other LLCs they also had other property holdings in the LB area.

Mr. Bixby was a principal in Pacific Retail Partners, whose services include "strategic planning, market and site analysis, challenged asset repositioning, contract negotiation and coordination of the entitlement process." In recent years, Mr. Bixby was an advocate for bicycling, urging inclusion of a dedicated bicycle lane on the Gerald Desmond Bridge rebuild project, and was a founding director of the LB Bicycle Festival. He leaves a wife, Theresa, and three children.

This morning at approximately 10:30 am, units from the Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) were called to the scene of a private twin-engine Beech Craft King Air Turbo-Prop plane that had crashed during takeoff at the Long Beach Airport.

The LBFD units arrived on scene within one minute at the Southwest corner of Runway 30 where they found the wreckage of the plane on fire. The units quickly utilized water and foam from both their bumpers and top turrets to extinguish the blaze within two minutes.

Firefighters then quickly used specialized extrication methods and tools to swiftly gain access into the twisted remains. Once access was gained, Firefighters found that there were a total of six souls onboard; five that perished in the crash and one that was alive. They immediately extricated the critical patient and began treatment before transporting the patient to a local hospital.

The cause of the plane crash is currently under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)...Commercial and general aviation operations at the Long Beach Airport continue uninterrupted. The Coroner's Office will release the names of those who lost their lives in the crash once identification has been confirmed and next of kin have been notified.

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