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PLANE CRASH: Fatalities in Agua Dulce plane crash identified by relatives

October 28, 2010

Agua Dulce - Relatives have identified the three victims of the plane crash near Agua Dulce last October 22 as a Southern California Gas Co. executive, his daughter, and her friend, reports said.

The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office is yet to officially identify the victims, but a report on the Detroit Free Press quoted relatives who revealed that the victims were Dale J. Smet, Rachel Sutton, and Carla Heikkinen.

Smet, 51, from Canyon Country was the pilot of the four-seater single engine Cirrus SR-22, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. He worked for the said Gas Co. as a senior market adviser for the Commercial and Industrial Department.

Sutton, 30, is Smet’s daughter who lived in Michigan. Along with her father and Heikkinen, 30, of Chicago, they plan to fly to Parker, Arizona to look at property owned by Smet’s wife Laura Lancaster. The women also visited friends and family in California, according to the paper.

The plane crashed into a horse corral in rugged, fog-shrouded terrain shortly after taking off from Van Nuys Airport.

Obscured view due to low clouds, fog, and mist apparently contributed to the crash.

Witnesses claimed that the plane was flying upside-down before it crashed. It was flying very low between two hills, and then made a steep descending turn before hitting the ground. The plane was registered to Ovation Management Inc.

A full report on the crash will be released in about nine months according to investigators.

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