HALF MOON BAY -- Authorities on Thursday confirmed the remains found among the charred wreckage of a small plane belong to a Florida man missing since he took off from Half Moon Bay Airport Monday.
Andrew Charles Hayden, 75, of Punta Gorda, Fla., was identified through dental records because his remains were badly damaged by fire, San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said. The burned frame of Hayden's plane was found Tuesday about a mile north of Pillar Point Harbor and less than a mile west of the airport in a broad dip on a coastal bluff.
Authorities have not said what may have caused the single engine Aeropro CZ A240 to go down. But the wreckage's position at the crash site appears to indicate it might have been headed back toward the airport. The crash remains under investigation by Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board authorities, officials said.
Hayden took off around 5:50 a.m. Monday and when he didn't arrive at his destination -- Marana Regional Airport near Tucson, Ariz. -- his wife reported him missing. Efforts to reach Hayden's family have been unsuccessful.
Foucrault said Hayden's cause of death is undetermined because there was not enough left of his body to perform a full examination.
Hayden's plane was discovered by a San Mateo County park ranger who was part of the search effort launched after the pilot's disappearance. The Coast Guard carried out air and sea searches.
Contact Joshua Melvin at 650-348-4335. Follow him at Twitter.com/melvinreport. ___
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