Petaluma plane crash takes life of Fallbrook man

A plane crash in a rural area of Sonoma County has claimed the life of a Fallbrook resident, according to the Sonoma County Coroner's Office.

Carleton Henry Morrison, 75, of Fallbrook, was killed when the Mooney M20 fixed wing aircraft he was piloting crashed in the 3600 block of Manor Lane in Petaluma the evening of Friday, April 6.

"He died doing what he love," Carl Morrison's son, Jim Morrison said. "He lived big and he died big."

According to Jim Morrison, Carl, an accomplished pilot, had just taken off and was only two miles from the airport when the crash occurred.

"That's all we know," Jim Morrison said. "He flew up to (northern) California quite a bit. It was often when it was raining or there was a storm that he would fly back home. He didn't take chances, he was very careful. He was very systematic in terms of his cautiousness."

Jim Morrison said his father was instrument rated, meaning he could fly without being able to see the ground. There was rain and fog in the Petaluma area the evening of April 6.

"We don't think it had to do with the weather," he said. "We just don't know; it's hard to tell."

Until the cause of the crash is determined, the family is taking solace in the fact that their father and husband did not suffer, Jim Morrison said.

An outpouring of condolences occurred on social media after the news of Morrison's untimely passing began to break.

"It is with an extremely heavy heart that I report the passing of our friend, colleague and Region Vice Commander, Colonel Carleton Morrison," Pacific Region Civil Air Patrol Commander Col. Jon Stokes wrote. "Col Morrison died late Friday evening at the controls of his personal aircraft outside of Petaluma, California. Col Morrison was the type of Airman that we should all aspire to be; dedicated, compassionate and always forward looking. He will be missed every day. Please keep his wife Mary, his children and grandchildren in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks to come."

Morrison was a well-known attorney in Fallbrook and president of Morrison & Associates, Inc. His firm was overseeing the installation of four of the X-band radar units for a multi-government- agency four-phase project in the San Francisco Bay Area called the Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information (AQPI) System project at the time of his death.

He was a big supporter of local businesses who loved his family and loved his community, Jim Morrison said.

According to a Sonoma County Sheriff's Department press release, Morrison, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Colonel, who earned his law degree at DePaul and an advanced degree in administrative law at George Washington University, was believed to be piloting his plane from Petaluma to San Diego County during bad weather when it crashed in a field, Friday, April 6. After a nearly three and one-half-hour long search, the plane was located in a remote ravine, Sonoma County Sheriff's Department Lt. Eddie Engram said.

Services for Morrison will be held Saturday, April 14, at 11 a.m. at the LDS Meetinghouse, 621 South Stage Coach Lane, in Fallbrook. A gathering for family and friends will be held before the services from 10 to 10:45 a.m. The family will accept visitors immediately after the services. A special military burial will be held at the Riverside National Cemetery at a date to be determined.

The cause of the collision is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.