MUSICIAN PRESUMED DEAD IN PLANE CRASH.

Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer

ARCATA, Calif. -- A Canyon Country musician was presumed dead Monday in the wreckage of his plane found outside the Northern California town of Arcata.

Vic Steelhammer, 49, a trombonist for the San Luis Obispo Symphony Orchestra, owned the plane and had flown it Sunday out of Whiteman Airport in Pacoima to a music camp in Humboldt, said his wife, Judy.

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Department told the (Eureka) Times-Standard newspaper that it was foggy Sunday about midnight when a call came from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Search and rescue teams went out at first light Monday and found the wreckage about noon; sheriff's official said that Steelhammer's plane had hit a tree in heavily-wooded private timber land owned by Green Diamond Resource Co. outside Arcata. Coroner's officials on the scene confirmed that the body of an adult male was found at the crash site. It had not been positively identified.

Judy Steelhammer said FAA officials called her Sunday night to say her husband's flight plan had not closed, but did not offer any further details. She said that he was flying alone, but declined any further comment.

Wayne Donaldson, president of the International Stinson Club of plane owners, where Steelhammer served on the board of directors, said that he and Steelhammer had been good friends for more than 10 years.

``This is a horrible tragedy,'' Donaldson said. ``I knew him very well.''

Steelhammer's plane, a 14-19 fixed-wing single-engine Bellanca, left Whiteman on Sunday afternoon.

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Vic Steelhammer, 49, is presumed dead. The wreckage of his plane was found outside Arcata.