A community mourns as the NTSB begins its investigation into a Pacific Grove plane crash.

The vases and bunches of flowers began piling up outside of the Aquarius Dive Shop on Del Monte in Monterey within a couple of days of the plane crash late Saturday, July 26, off the shore of Asilomar State Beach in Pacific Grove that killed three men, including the shop’s owner, James Vincent, 36.

“I am so sorry for everyone’s loss. James, Jamie and Steve were great men and will be missed,” read one card at the closed shop, attached to a vase of flowers. The message referred to Vincent and the two passengers, Jamie Lee Tabscott, 44, and Steve Eugene Clatterbuck, 60. All three men were reportedly scuba divers – Clatterbuck listed himself as a diving instructor on Facebook.

The twin-engine Beechcraft plane went down just before 10:40pm, after having taken off from San Carlos Airport just after 10pm. It was entering a descending left-hand turn to make an approach to Monterey Regional Airport when, for unknown reasons, it climbed again then entered a high-speed descent, crashing into the cove, according to a report on the website Aviation Safety Network. The plane crashed about 200 feet off shore.

Guardsmen from Coast Guard Station Monterey were made aware of the crash at 10:55pm and arrived within 15 minutes. Other agencies responded, including the crew of the Monterey Fire Boat, which found the first victim at 3:01am. The crew worked with a commercial dive team to locate and recover the other two people, still inside the plane, between 6:30am and 9:30am.

Vincent appears to have acquired the plane in January under the company name Sea2Sky Aviation LLC. “Got my Multi rating today in the new plane,” he wrote in a Facebook post dated Feb. 17, referring to a multi-engine rating certification that is in addition to a pilot’s license. Vincent posted in November 2021 about his first solo flight as a pilot.

Just before 1pm on Tuesday, July 29, five miles away from the shop along Sunset Drive in P.G., a helicopter could be heard overhead. In the water, just a few hundred feet off the beach, was a small vessel with a crew aboard, along with divers in the water, at the underwater location of the plane. The crew was in the process of attaching cables to the plane so that the helicopter could hoist it out of the water. From there, they set it onto an awaiting flatbed truck parked on Sunset.

An investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board was on scene, documenting the activities as part of an investigation into the crash, according to an NTSB spokesperson, who adds the plane will be taken to a secure location to be examined.

NTSB’s investigation will look into the pilot, the aircraft and the weather conditions, as well as take witness statements and study aircraft maintenance records. They will also take into account the recency of flight experience, the spokesperson says. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days of the crash.

A dive shop employee declined to be interviewed, saying the family does not want to talk to the media.

“We appreciate the outpouring of support from the community at this time,” the shop posted on the home page of its website, aquariusdivers.com. The message states that a tentative reopening of the shop is scheduled for Thursday, July 31.