Military Accidents California

The Salton Sea, that murky, improbable body of water trapped in a blistering desert, gave up one of its mysteries Monday: the identity of a Navy warplane that crashed into the sea during World War II. Scuba divers from the Riverside County sheriff's underwater search and rescue team scraped away half a century of barnacles, silt and other aquatic corruption to read an instrument panel number on a long-forgotten Avenger torpedo bomber that crashed into the sea during a training flight.

The Salton Sea, that murky, improbable body of water trapped in a blistering desert, gave up one of its mysteries Monday: the identity of a Navy warplane that crashed into the sea during World War II. Scuba divers from the Riverside County sheriff's underwater search and rescue team scraped away half a century of barnacles, silt and other aquatic corruption to read an instrument panel number on a long-forgotten Avenger torpedo bomber that crashed into the sea during a training flight.

Hundreds turned out Saturday for a tear-filled ceremony to honor 10 Air Force reservists who were killed in a crash off the California coast last month. Photographs of the victims were lined up on the podium at the Portland Air Base, and a HC-130P aircraft was parked nearby, a wreath of red roses hanging from its nose. Dive teams will search the Pacific 40 miles off Point Mendocino, Calif., for the HC-130P Hercules that crashed Nov. 22 on a flight to San Diego.

Hundreds turned out Saturday for a tear-filled ceremony to honor 10 Air Force reservists who were killed in a crash off the California coast last month. Photographs of the victims were lined up on the podium at the Portland Air Base, and a HC-130P aircraft was parked nearby, a wreath of red roses hanging from its nose. Dive teams will search the Pacific 40 miles off Point Mendocino, Calif., for the HC-130P Hercules that crashed Nov. 22 on a flight to San Diego.

After 980 hours of waiting, Chris Manning was ready when the order came. After four years in the Navy as part of an elite helicopter search-and-rescue squadron, Manning was finally getting the chance to put his training to use: to plunge into an unforgiving sea and rescue downed fliers in danger of drowning or dying quickly of hypothermia or injuries. To the 23-year-old Iowa native with the mop of red hair and the open, polite manner, failure was not an option. He was not about to be deterred.

After 980 hours of waiting, Chris Manning was ready when the order came. After four years in the Navy as part of an elite helicopter search-and-rescue squadron, Manning was finally getting the chance to put his training to use: to plunge into an unforgiving sea and rescue downed fliers in danger of drowning or dying quickly of hypothermia or injuries. To the 23-year-old Iowa native with the mop of red hair and the open, polite manner, failure was not an option. He was not about to be deterred.