Caltech artist saves crash survivor

David Kremers’s gift to himself on December 25 was a day at San Onofre beach, the perfect time to surf and pretend that the nearly desolate beach was all his.

But soon after three in the afternoon, Kremers, Caltech’s Distinguished Conceptual Artist in Biology, had given up on the flat water and packed up his gear. He noticed that a few joggers on the beach had stopped to stare at something in the water.

“I didn’t see the plane crash, but I did see it in the water and start to sink,” he said.

The plane, a Cessna four-seater, had crashed about half a mile off shore. Several of the passersby had already called 911, so Kremers waited for the lifeguards to arrive.

Instead, a San Diego County police helicopter arrived shortly and hovered over the sinking plane. Kremers heard a voice from the helicopter’s loudspeakers talking to somebody in the water, but no rescue personnel were in the water. As the only person with a wet suit, Kremers realized that no one else could venture into the 60-degree water. He jumped back into his suit and started swimming.

“It was late afternoon and there was lots of glare coming off the water, so I couldn’t see anyone,” he said. By then, the placid water had turned rough with waves, but he swam toward the helicopter.
He found the man in the water unresponsive and clinging to a life preserver. Kremers wrapped the man’s arms around a buoy dropped by the helicopter.

“He was conscious, but couldn’t talk or tell me if there were others,” he said. Kremers stayed with the man until help came. A Coast Guard helicopter airlifted the man to nearby Scripps Hospital.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the plane—carrying a couple, Celina and Edward Muhammad, and pilot Jamal Muhammad—was returning to Hawthorne from San Diego. On its return, the plane experienced engine trouble and was headed to Carlsbad when it crashed. The woman’s body was found nearby, but efforts to find Edward Muhammad, 25, were unsuccessful. The pilot, Jamal Muhammad, 26, was expected to recover from severe hypothermia.

Kremers swam back to shore with the lifeguards, capping a day he began by treating himself to a day of surfing and finished by giving a gift to a total stranger.
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