Investigators Suspect Suicide in Plane Plunge

Dec. 17 -- Investigators believe a San Francisco woman’s 2,000-foot fall from a corporate plane over northern California was a suicide.

The FBI has ruled out foul play or a mechanical malfunction inthe death of Elisabeth Mathilde Otto.

The 29-year-old woman plunged from a Hewlett-Packard company shuttle after apparently opening an emergency exit Thursday evening.

Pilots didn’t know it until they landed.

A passenger tried to save Otto, agent Andy Black said on Friday. With other passengers watching, the man held on to her as long as he could, but finally had to let go to avoid being sucked out as well.

A source close to the investigation tells The Associated Press that family had urged Otto to seek counseling. Friends described Otto as despondent after a recent move to San Francisco from Europe.

The FBI says two passengers who saw Otto fall from the plane were so distraught they could not tell pilots what had happened. Police were not notified she was missing until 45 minutes after the plane landed in San Jose.

Sacramento police said late Friday they found Otto’s body in a community vegetable garden.

Unlocked Door

The twin-engine turboprop plane, leased by Hewlett-Packard for use as an employee shuttle, was carrying five passengers and two crew members when it took off from Lincoln Regional Airport, which serves the town of Roseville north of Sacramento. The plane had 18 seats, so it was far from full.

The plane flies regularly between Roseville and San Jose, two California cities where Hewlett-Packard has offices, the FAA said. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, near San Jose.

Police spokesmen and the FBI offered this re-creation of the event, based on initial reports: Shortly after departing the Lincoln airport, the pilot noticed a warning light indicating an unlocked door.

The plane made an emergency landing at Sacramento Executive Airport to check on the door, then took off again.

But at 5:23 p.m. local time, about 5 miles southeast of Sacramento, at an altitude of 2,000 feet, the door opened again and Otto apparently jumped out.