Authorities have identified the two remaining victims killed Aug. 16 in a midair plane collision near Brown Field in the Otay Mesa area.
The pilot and sole occupant of the single-engine Cessna 172 has been identified by the county Medical Examiner’s Office as Michael Copeland, 55, of San Diego. James Hale, 66, of Adelanto, was copilot of the second craft, a twin-engine Sabreliner jet, and a contract employee for Virginia-based military contractor BAE Systems, which had leased the plane.
Investigation indicated that Copeland was practicing landing maneuvers when his plane and the Sabreliner struck wings as they flew in opposite directions northeast of the airport. Copeland was a senior marketing manager at mobile technologies giant Qualcomm in San Diego, where he had worked the last seven years.
Both pilots had talked with controllers shortly before the collision.
On Aug. 18, BAE Systems identified three of the Sabreliner victims as BAE employees Carlos Palos, John Kovach and Jeff Percy, from the Mojave area.
Investigations are ongoing.