Tomarken, Wife Drowned

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

March 16 -- Two hundred yards may have been the divide between life and death for Peter Tomarken and his wife.

That's how far out the former game-show-host-turned-humanitarian was from a deserted stretch of beach before his A-36 beechcraft slammed into the murky ocean waters and sank within sight of Santa Monica's shoreline.

Both Tomarken and his wife suffered from severe blunt trama when they hit the water at over 100 miles an hour, but the primary cause of death was drowning, said Los Angeles County Coroner’s officials Wednesday.

Within minutes after the crash, Los Angeles County lifeguards swam out to the submerged airplane, but by then it was too late.

If they plane would have been able to make it to land, there may have been a chance to treat the couple's injuries, depending on their severity, Coroner's officials said.

Two Santa Monica beach maintenance employees, lifeguards and groups of tourists all saw the accident happen and emergency crews responded within ten minutes.

But it appears both were probably knocked unconscious when the plane sank, coroner’s officials said.

Tomarken took off from Santa Monica Airport and was on his way to pick up a cancer patient from San Diego and fly the patient back to a local hospital for treatment, free of charge, as part of a charity program run out of Santa Monica Airport.

More than 70 pilots are involved in the charity efforts, and this was Tomarken's maiden voyage to pick up a patient.

About 8 minutes into the flight, he radioed a distress signal to Santa Monica Airport, and then went down shortly after.

The Federal Airport Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating the accident.