Southern California

MEDAN, Indonesia >> The death toll from the crash of an air force transport plane in Indonesia jumped to more than 140 on Wednesday, as officials confirmed a bigger-than-previously-reported passenger list and a growing number of victims from the neighborhood where the plane went down.

North Sumatra police major A. Tarigan told TVOne that 141 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a residential area in Medan city where the C-130 Hercules crashed shortly after takeoff on Tuesday. The death toll was 74 overnight.

The air force says 122 people were on board, including military personnel and their families. Officials don’t expect any survivors from the plane.

Initially, the air force had said only 12 crew were on the plane but had not said how many else were on it. It then repeatedly raised the numbers of passengers, indicating lax controls and raising questions whether it was accepting paying passengers despite previous promises to crack down on the practice. Hitching rides on military planes to reach remote destinations is common in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago that spans three time zones.

The crash of the aircraft, which had been in service since 1964, occurred only two minutes after it took off from Soewondo air force base in Medan on Sumatra, one of Indonesia’s main islands. It plowed into a building that local media said contained shops and homes.

Witnesses said flames and smoke streamed from the plane before it crashed. Air force chief Air Marshal Agus Supriatna said the pilot told the control tower that he needed to turn back because of engine trouble and that the plane crashed while turning right to return to the airport.

The plane had traveled from the capital, Jakarta, and stopped at two locations before arriving at Medan.

Outside Adam Malik hospital in Medan, coffins were arranged in several rows. Officers wearing face masks and white gloves carried coffins with bodies that had been identified to trucks for transport to families.

A backhoe has been digging at the pile of smoldering concrete where the plane crashed. The tail of the plane still stands in the middle of the neighborhood.

Indonesia has a patchy civil aviation safety record and its cash-strapped air force has suffered a series of accidents. Between 2007 and 2009, the European Union barred Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe because of safety worries.

The country’s most recent civilian airline disaster was in December, when an AirAsia jet with 162 people on board crashed into the Java Sea en route from Surabaya to Singapore. There have been five fatal crashes involving air force planes since 2008, according to the Aviation Safety Network, which tracks aviation disasters.

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AP writers Stephen Wright and Ali Kotarumalos contributed to this story from Jakarta.

ALTADENA >> Coroner’s officials on Monday identified the motorcyclist killed in a crash on Angeles Crest Highway as a 27-year-old Jeffrey Yamato of Alta Loma.

Ed Winter, assistant chief of investigations and operations for the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, said Yamato died at the scene . The autopsy is pending.

The fatal crash occurred just after 8:20 a.m. Sunday at mile marker 36.89 on Angeles Crest Highway.

The motorcycle was heading eastbound when it crossed over into the opposing lane and collided with a 2001 GMC Yukon XL. Bejar said the motorcyclist was thrown from his bike.

The CHP hasn’t determined yet why the motorcycle went into the westbound lane and how fast it was traveling before the crash, but Officer Ryan Bejar said drugs and alcohol were not suspected as factors.

The 40-year-old man driving the Yukon and his passengers — a 42-year-old woman, a 12-year-old boy, a 9-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl — weren’t injured, according to the Bejar. All are from Hanford, in the San Joaquin Valley.

The collision shut down a section of Angeles Crest Highway for nearly three and a half hours.

IndyCar drivers Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay collided with a little more than a lap to go in Saturday’s MavTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway.

Both drivers were able walk away from the incident and managed to avoid serious injury.

The race included cars racing four- and five-wide in excess of 210 MPH on the front stretch, leading to an exciting race for fans, but a dangerous one for drives if the cars got too close.

More photos of the wreck and Saturday’s race.

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST >> A 27-year-old Fontana man died early Sunday after his motorcycle collided head-on with an SUV on Angeles Crest Highway, deep in the Angeles National Forest above Altadena.

The crash was first reported about 8:25 a.m. at mile marker 36.89 of Angeles Crest Highway, north of Ladybug Canyon Road, California Highway Patrol officials said. His name was not released pending family notification.

The rider was heading east on Angeles Crest Highway on a 2013 Yamaha R6 at an unknown speed just prior to the collision, CHP Sgt. Todd Kovaletz said in a written statement. A 2001 GMC Yukon was heading in the opposite direction.

“For an unknown reason, (the rider) drove across the painted double yellow lines into the opposing lane, directly into the path of the GMC,” the sergeant said. “(He) collided with the roadway, then with the GMC.”

Paramedics pronounced the motorcyclist dead at the scene.

The driver of the SUV, a 40-year-old Hanford man, as well as a woman and three children riding as passengers were not injured, Kovaletz said.

The crash is being investigated by the CHP’s Altadena office. Anyone with information was asked to contact Officer J. Ortega at 626-296-8100.

CORONA >> A homemade aircraft has crashed into a cellphone tower in Southern California, killing one person and injuring another.

The Riverside County Fire Department said Sunday the plane hit the cell tower and went down in an unincorporated area of Corona.

Authorities say one person died at the scene. A survivor was thrown from the plane and taken to the hospital with moderate injuries.

Firefighters were waiting for utility crews to arrive to shut off power before they can reach the victim in the plane.

No other details were immediately available.

Saturday’s IndyCar race in Southern California did not end well for Australian driver Ryan Briscoe, but it could have been a lot worse.

A lot worse.

With nine laps left in the MAVTV 500 at Fontana’s AutoClub Speedway, Briscoe’s car was sent airborne after being clipped by American Ryan Hunter-Reay. Fortunately for Briscoe, and everyone at the track, he was able to walk away from the frightening crash uninjured.

Viewing on mobile? Click here to see video of car crash.

JUNEAU, Alaska >> recovery crew on Friday reached a remote site in southeast Alaska where a sightseeing plane crashed, killing all nine people aboard.

Chris John of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad said the aircraft was sitting at a steep angle and three members from his organization had to secure it so they could safely work to recover the bodies.

Eight cruise ship passengers and the pilot died when the DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter turboprop went down Thursday in Misty Fjords National Monument near Ketchikan.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation.

Authorities tentatively identified the victims as Hal Cheney, 71, and Mary Doucette, 59, of Lodi, California; Glenda Cambiaso, 31, and Hugo Cambiaso, 65, of North Potomac, Maryland; June Kranenburg, 73, and Leonard Kranenburg, 63, of Medford, Oregon; Margie Apodaca, 63, and Raymond Apodaca, 70, of Sparks, Nevada; and the pilot, Bryan Krill, 64 of Hope, Idaho.

Their remains will be taken to and positively identified at the state medical examiner’s office in Anchorage.

The plane crashed on a cliff above a lake in steep, muddy and slippery terrain, John said. The fuselage was largely intact but the wings and tail were separated or heavily deformed, he said.

On Thursday, the Coast Guard received a report that the plane was overdue. An emergency locator transmitter activated and a helicopter pilot later spotted the downed aircraft.

Wind and rain prevented any recovery Thursday. Winds were not a concern Friday but there was cloud cover.

A National Transportation Safety Board team was assembled to investigate the crash. Plans were being made to take them to the site on Saturday, John said.

Ketchikan-based airline Promech Air operated the shore excursion offered through Holland America Line. The eight passengers were traveling on the Westerdam on a seven-day cruise that had departed Seattle last Saturday.

“We are incredibly distressed by this situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with those onboard the plane and their families,” Holland America said in a statement.

The airline echoed those sentiments.

“There is nothing I can say that can alleviate the pain and overwhelming sense of loss that we and the loved ones of those affected are feeling,” Marcus Sessoms, president of Promech Air, said in a statement.

The ship left Ketchikan Thursday night and was expected back in Seattle on Saturday.

Promech’s website advertises tours of the more than 3,000-square-mile Misty Fjord National Monument in its floatplanes.

“Towering granite cliffs, 1,000-foot waterfalls, lush and remote valleys and serene crystalline lakes make up this incredible landscape,” it says.

POMONA >> A DUI case against a 23-year-old man was dismissed Friday after a jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared, the man’s attorney said.

The jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of declaring Max Seeget not guilty and the prosecutor dismissed the case, said attorney David Diamond.

Diamond said jurors did not believe the testimony of a Pomona police officer who said Seeget refused to take a test to measure the alcohol level in his client’s body early on May 11, 2014.

During closing arguments Diamond said his clients was never asked to undergo a test.

Seeget, who lives near Mt. San Antonio College, was at home and had a drink while he was studying for an advanced credential when he decided to go out and purchase fast food, Diamond said.

Seeget followed GPS instructions to a fast food restaurant in Pomona when he came to DUI checkpoint around 1:30 a.m., the attorney said.

During closing arguments the prosecution said Seeget ran a stop sign at the checkpoint but Diamond said Seeget simply rolled through the stop.

Diamond said he will submit a complaint to the Pomona police internal affairs office seeking an investigation of the officer who handled his client’s case. The officer committed perjury when he testified he gave Seeget the opportunity to undergo a test to check how much alcohol was in his system when he was asked to undergo the test, Diamond said.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO >> Three people were killed and two others seriously injured Thursday night in a two-vehicle collision in San Juan Capistrano.

A dog also died in the head-on collision, which was reported at 7:53 p.m. on Camino Capistrano, south of Avery Parkway, between the 5 Freeway and San Joaquin Hills (73) Transportation Corridor, Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority said.

Three people were pronounced dead at the scene and two — a man and woman, both in their 20s — were taken to a hospital as trauma patients, he said.

The dog was in the same vehicle as the injured victims, Concialdi said.

One of the vehicles involved caught fire after the crash, a witness at the scene reported to the California Highway Patrol.