One of the three children injured when a plane crashed on a San Diego area golf course died from his injuries Wednesday.
The medical examiner's office reports 8-year-old Austin Crane of Mesa was declared dead Wednesday at Rady Children's Hospital.
His 11-year-old sister Summer, 10-year-old sister Tia, and their father Gregory Crane remain in critical condition. The children's mother Lori, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the plane, suffered extensive head trauma and died in the crash.
The Cranes' plane crashed Monday shortly before 1 p.m. on the Admiral Baker Golf Course, not far from Tierrasanta and the nearby Montgomery Field airport.
Gregory Crane called the Montgomery Field control tower shortly after takeoff to report that he was unable to close a door in the aircraft and planned to return to the airport for an emergency landing. The control tower then lost contact with the plane.
The door was located about a mile from the crash. The loss of the door could have changed the aerodynamic characteristics of the plane, according to investigators.
On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board said the plane was taken to Palmdale, Calif., where it will be examined later this month. It's not unusual for the cause of a crash to take several months to determine in such cases, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
