SANTA MONICA, Calif.—A former mayor of Santa Monica, California, died after a small plane crash-landed and flipped upside down on a beach in the coastal California community, authorities said.
Rex Minter was a passenger in the single-engine Cessna that took off from Santa Monica Airport about 3 p.m. Thursday en route to Malibu. The pilot was taken to a hospital.
The City of Santa Monica and current Mayor Gleam Davis separately confirmed Minter’s death.
According to a flight recording, the pilot reported engine trouble and tried to return to the airport but then decided to make an emergency landing, KCBS-TV reported….