Carlsbad
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Crews from a Coast Guard helicopter and cutter and the Oceanside Harbor Patrol were searching Monday night for the pilot of a small plane that crashed off the coast of Carlsbad.
The pilot was identified as Art Scholl of Rialto, Calif., by Coast Guard Duty Officer Richard Rooth.
Rooth said the Palomar Airport control tower reported the plane down at 5:50 p.m. about five miles offshore from San Diego Gas & Electric’s Encina power plant.
The first Coast Guard unit to reach the scene, in a Falcon jet, reported seeing only debris in the water. Crews from the Coast Guard cutter Point Hobart, a Coast Guard helicopter and a boat from the Oceanside Harbor Patrol also searched in vain for the missing pilot.
The plane, a Pitts Special, was a single-engine biplane used mainly for aerobatics.
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