Coast Guard Responds To Mid-Air Collision Of Small Planes

May 18, 2009 10:30 p.m. EST

Long Beach, CA (AHN) - Search and rescue teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and Long Beach were alerted Monday afternoon to a mid-air collision of two small planes five miles south of the California city.

Authorities received a report of the collision at 5:45 p.m. off Catalina Island.

"The collision was reported by the pilot of another aircraft, who told authorities he had seen the crash," the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman Ian Gregor said, according to Latimes.com. Rescuers were dispatched 30 minutes later.

No further details were available.