Catastrophe was almost miraculously avoided yesterday afternoon after
two small planes collided in the air above Tacoma's Commencement Bay.

One of the planes was able to fly to an airfield in nearby Puyallup,
WA and execute a safe landing. The other plane, with two persons
aboard, was unable to continue flying and the pilot ditched the
aircraft into Commncement Bay. Several people fishing from shore on
the south side of the bay used cell phones to report the crash.

First on the scene was a an approximately 50-foot LOA pleasure boat.
By the time USCG personnel responded to the incident, the pleasure
boaters had recovered the pilot and his mother (the passenger on the
flight). The pilot and passenger were transferred to a local hospital,
where they are being treated for hypothermia. Both are expected to
survive.