2 KILLED, 2 HURT IN CRASHES : PLANES GO DOWN IN FOREST, ON ISLAND.

Byline: Associated Press

Two small planes crashed in Southern California on Friday, killing two people in a craft that plunged into Cleveland National Forest and injuring two others who went down near a runway on Santa Catalina Island.

Two bodies were found in the wreckage on the slope of Sierra Peak in the forest along the border of Orange and Riverside counties.

Recovery crews had to be dropped into the rugged terrain by helicopter, said Orange County Fire Authority spokesman Dennis Schell.

The Federal Aviation Administration notified fire officials at 12:57 p.m. that a plane had crashed three to four miles southwest of Corona near the Riverside Freeway, he said.

On Santa Catalina, a single-engine Cessna plummeted to the ground just about 100 yards short of the island's runway. Joseph Ledbetter, 40, and his wife Kim, 25, of San Pablo, Calif. were pulled from the wreckage, officials said.

``They're alert and oriented, but both have multiple injuries,'' said county fire Inspector John Holt.

The Ledbetters were trapped inside the wreckage of the plane that crashed shortly after 1:30 p.m. before being rescued.

``They did incredibly well, considering the nature of the crash,'' said Dr. Crystal Zumer, who treated Joseph Ledbetter.

He was taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, where he was in stable condition with cuts on his face and a broken right ankle, shinbone and finger on his right hand, said Greg Harrison, a hospital spokesman.

Kim Ledbetter was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, where she was in stable condition with multiple fractures and cuts on her face, a nursing supervisor said.