Plane Crashed Minutes After Half Moon Bay Takeoff

The private plane that crashed last month, killing a Florida man, slammed into a coastal bluff and burst into flames just minutes after takeoff from Half Moon Bay Airport, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released Friday.

Andrew Hayden, 75, of Punta Gorda, Fla., a former U.S. Navy SEAL, was killed when his single-engine Aeropro CZ A240 crashed near Seal Cove shortly after departing from the Half Moon Bay Airport for Marana Regional Airport near Tucson, Ariz., around 5:50 a.m. Oct. 15. The plane was registered to Hayden, who was the only person in the plane.

After a search effort led by the U.S. Coast Guard and aided by the Civil Air Patrol and the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, a ground-based search crew found the wreckage about 400 yards west of the Half Moon Bay airport.

The report does not explain why the plane went down; that will be part of a final draft to be issued 12-18 months from the crash, according to a report in the San Mateo County Times.

Hayden's body was so badly burned the coroner had to use dental records to identify him.

Read the full report in the San Mateo County Times article here.

Follow us on Twitter here | Like Half Moon Bay Patch here | Sign up for our daily newsletter | Blog for Half Moon Bay Patch here