Edgar Latimer Hinton, Jr., a talented character actor, was one of three individuals on board a single engine amphibious plane that tragically crashed into a 40-foot cliff in front of the exclusive Toyon Bay Boat Club on Santa Catalina Island.
The plane, a Republic Seabee, had taken off from Orange County Airport around 4 p.m. and was piloted by Vince Pardue, who was attempting to establish a charter air service between Orange County Airport and Santa Catalina Island.
Hinton, a guest at the club with his wife, Marilynn, and their three children, had been summoned to the mainland and was due in Utah the next day to begin filming a movie. In a poignant and devastating turn of events, the crash occurred in full view of Hinton's family, who had gathered at the boat club's pier to bid him farewell.
As the plane flew over the bay, it circled once before attempting to land, but instead, it suddenly lost altitude and smashed into the cliff, sending the aircraft plummeting to the rocky beach below.
