From the Half Moon Bay Review
Story from the 1960s
Montara Fire Chief Joe Miles and Wilburn L. Hunt of El Granada were in critical condition at a San Mateo hospital this week following an airplane accident at Half Moon Bay Airport Sunday.
Miles and Hunt were in a plane which crashed near the north end of the airport runway. Reports said the plane dropped about 200 feet as the men were practicing touch-and-go landings.
State Highway Patrolman Donald F. Woods was an eyewitness to the accident. He said the plane dove straight to the ground after a steep climb. Hunt was thrown clear but Miles was pinned in the wreckage.
Miles, 41, chief of the volunteer fire department at Montara, is a member of the sheriff’s reserve and operates a service station in Moss Beach. His wife is employed at the Half Moon Bay Union High School district office.
Hunt, 31, is employed by Isaac Carroll, and resides in El Granada.
The plane was a Luscombe two-place cabin plane owned by Jim McNeeley, Half Moon Bay contractor, Hunt and another person, according to McNeeley.