San Diego County pilot dies in crash of private plane in Petaluma Friday night

Started by OldGuy, April 07, 2018, 10:56:13 PM

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OldGuy

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8197786-181/1-person-dead-in-crash?sba=AAS

Sonoma County sheriff's deputies and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash of a single-engine plane Friday night near Petaluma Municipal Airport that killed a San Diego County man.

Carl Morrison, 75, was piloting his 1990 Mooney M20J propeller-driven plane from the airport back home after a work trip north in his role as a consultant with the Sonoma County Water Agency, according to a Facebook post from his family. Morrison, an attorney and vice commander of the Pacific Region's Civil Air Patrol, had served in the U.S. Marines and often flew his plane for meetings around the country.

"We are so saddened by the passing of our husband, father, and friend," the family's post read.

Friends and work colleagues voiced deep sorrow at his sudden death. It came during the type of storm, an atmospheric river, for which he worked to broaden research.

"He had the most wonderful disposition," said Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane. "He was always positive, and always smiling — just a wonderful human being. We can't even imagine our team without him, it's just devastating."

Col. Jon Stokes, Morrison's superior in the Civil Air Patrol, Pacific Division, said his eventual No. 2 joined the search-and-rescue and United States Air Force cadet training program in 2006 and quickly rose through the ranks. He noted Morrison frequently made the flight from Petaluma to his home in Fallbrook, California, about an hour north of San Diego, for work and was a very technically adept, instrument-rated pilot, which makes the circumstances of his death that much more difficult to fathom.

"It's a very sad day," said Stokes. "He was a very smart and insightful individual, and it's a loss to the organization and his family, but also just to our community and people in general. Carl was a great man."

Morrison was a 20-year member of the Marine Corps. and Vietnam veteran, retiring as a lawyer and public affairs officer in 1986 in the rank of lieutenant colonel, according to his law office website. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1966 before obtaining a law degree from DePaul University in Chicago in 1976. He possessed two master's degrees, from Loyola University and George Washington University, too.

Immediately following his military service, Morrison started a public relations and environmental consulting firm before going on to found his Fallbrook-based law firm in 1995. The office was located at the Fallbrook Airpark.

Morrison was a devout Mormon as well and held a high-ranking position at his church, according to friends. He also had an extensive family and often boasted about his eight children and 22 grandchildren.

Morrison's wife, Mary, called Petaluma police at about 6:40 p.m. Friday to report him overdue on his trip from the Petaluma airport south back home, according to a sheriff's office report. The U.S. Air Force also contacted the sheriff's office at around the same time after an emergency signal originated from a small plane in eastern Petaluma.

Sheriff's deputies responded to the coordinates on Sonoma Mountain, but could not immediately find the plane. A small fire eventually led them to the crash site after 10 p.m. in a remote ravine near the 3600 block of Manor Lane, about 2 miles northeast of the Petaluma airport. Deputies hiked up to the fire and spotted the downed plane, confirming the death of a single occupant who they believed was the pilot.

OldGuy

A message from Col Jon Stokes, Pacific Region Commander...
It is with an extremely heavy heart that I report the passing of our friend, colleague and Region Vice Commander, Colonel Carleton Morrison.  Col Morrison died late Friday evening at the controls of his personal aircraft outside of Petaluma, California.  Col Morrison began serving CAP in 2006 when he joined Fallbrook Senior Squadron 87 in the California Wing and was soon recruited onto the wing staff as a legal officer and legislative affairs officer.  There he was instrumental in helping to pass landmark employment protection legislation to protect CAP members called out to perform our missions.  In 2016, Col Morrison joined the Pacific Region staff as one of our two vice commanders, handing strategic planning, recruitment and retention and new missions.  Prior to joining CAP, Col Morrison served our country as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps and retired after 20 years of honorable service.  Col Morrison was a proud Vietnam veteran.   

Col Morrison was the type of Airman that we should all aspire to be; dedicated, compassionate and always forward looking.  He will be missed every day.   Please keep his wife Mary, his children and grandchildren in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks to come.  As information becomes available about services, I will pass it along.

grunt82abn

Quote from: Cicero on April 07, 2018, 10:56:59 PM
A message from Col Jon Stokes, Pacific Region Commander...
It is with an extremely heavy heart that I report the passing of our friend, colleague and Region Vice Commander, Colonel Carleton Morrison.  Col Morrison died late Friday evening at the controls of his personal aircraft outside of Petaluma, California.  Col Morrison began serving CAP in 2006 when he joined Fallbrook Senior Squadron 87 in the California Wing and was soon recruited onto the wing staff as a legal officer and legislative affairs officer.  There he was instrumental in helping to pass landmark employment protection legislation to protect CAP members called out to perform our missions.  In 2016, Col Morrison joined the Pacific Region staff as one of our two vice commanders, handing strategic planning, recruitment and retention and new missions.  Prior to joining CAP, Col Morrison served our country as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps and retired after 20 years of honorable service.  Col Morrison was a proud Vietnam veteran.   

Col Morrison was the type of Airman that we should all aspire to be; dedicated, compassionate and always forward looking.  He will be missed every day.   Please keep his wife Mary, his children and grandchildren in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks to come.  As information becomes available about services, I will pass it along.
RIP Brother!


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US Army 1987 to 1994, WIARNG 1994 to 2008
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OldGuy

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, --and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of --Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air...
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew --
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.