A pilot was found dead after a small plane crashed near the Petaluma Municipal Airport Friday night.
The plane came from Alaska and Col. Carleton Morrison was on his way to San Diego from Petaluma before crashing, according to Sgt. Spencer Crum of Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.
Morrison, 75, sent a distress call at 6:40 p.m. Friday, and the airport notified the Sheriff's Office but the plane was discovered later around 10 p.m.
Morrison's colleague Col. Jon Stokes of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) confirmed his identity Saturday afternoon. Stokes said Morrison began serving in CAP in 2006.
"Col. Morrison was the type of Airman that we should all aspire to be; dedicated, compassionate and always forward-looking," Stokes said.
The cause of the plane crash is unknown, Crum said. The plane was registered out of Fallbrook, California, in San Diego County, according to the information pulled from the plane's tail number.
The FAA and the NTSB will investigate the incident, according to Allen Kenitzer of FAA's Office of Communications.
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No other information was immediately available.
