What happened
The incident occurred while a crew was conducting night landing exercises. The aircraft involved was a float plane that collided mid-air with a second United States Navy Catalina registered as 0896. Both aircraft were carrying crews of five members each.
Following the impact, both planes crashed into the waters of San Diego Bay and were subsequently lost. The collision resulted in significant casualties across both airframes. On board the first aircraft, one crew member was killed and four others sustained injuries. On board the second aircraft, registered 0896, four occupants were killed and a fifth person was injured.
Findings
The source material does not provide specific technical findings or contributing factors beyond the description of the event as a collision during practice operations.