The names of two people who died when their plane crashed in a remote area of Malibu Creek State Park following a mid-air collision with another plane, forcing that plane into an emergency landing on a golf course, were released Tuesday.
Cheryl Jolene Strawn, 69, and Christopher Wade, 63, died in the collision, Lt. Joe Bale of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner told City News Service.
Bale reportedly did not know the hometowns of either one.
The two Cessna 172s collided midair eight miles northeast of Ventura near Calabasas at 2:01 p.m. on April 29, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer told The Malibu Times.
“One target went down immediately [in Westlake], the other target drifted off west before dropping off the radar scope [near Calabasas],” National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Howard Plagens said at a press conference the next day.
The plane carrying Strawn and Wade crashed in a mountainous area of Malibu Creek State Park, sparking a brush fire that burned an acre of vegetation before fire fighters extinguished it.
Associate Editor Knowles Adkisson can be reached at knowles@malibutimes.com or 310-456-5507 ext. 109.