Light Plane Crashes, Burns in Parking Lot Near John Wayne Airport; Pilot Killed

A light airplane crashed into a parking lot near John Wayne Airport on Wednesday night, tore into pieces and caught fire, killing the pilot.

The plane bounced once before it crashed 300 yards away and burned in the lot of a two-story commercial building at 2082 Business Center Drive in Irvine at about 8:25 p.m., Irvine Police Sgt. Tom Hume said. The only body found on board was burned beyond recognition.

No one on the ground was injured. The plane hit no structures.

The largest piece of the plane still intact was a 5-by-7-foot section of tail. The fact that it was a V-tail indicated that the plane probably was a Beechcraft Bonanza four-seater, an investigator said.

Deputy Coroner Rick E. Plows, quoting a fire investigator, said the plane apparently had been approaching the airport against the flow of traffic.

“He was headed in a southwesterly direction going against the normal landing traffic,” Plows said. “The plane was way inside the normal approach pattern.”

Heard Pilot Talking

Visibility was poor Wednesday night, and the control tower warned the pilot twice that he was coming in too low, Hume said.

Kevin Mullenger, an employee at nearby Tallmantz Aviation, said he was scanning the radio frequency for aircraft and heard the pilot talking to the tower.

“He was preparing to enter the air traffic area on final approach, and he was vectored (directed) to a holding pattern east. . . . What that means is instead of being allowed to fly directly in, the tower sent him to the east to hold. After which the tower asked if he was OK. He said yes. “

Mullenger said a commercial plane was behind the Beechcraft. “The tower told him (the commercial pilot), ‘You’re following second behind the Beechcraft.’

“The commercial pilot then asked, ‘Where is he?’ ” Mullenger said.

“ ‘We lost him,’ the tower replied,” Mullenger said.

Witnesses said the plane bounced once before it crashed 300 yards away and ignited. The fire was extinguished in minutes. Greg Brinley, Orange County Fire Department spokesman, said: “It only took it a couple of minutes to knock it down.”

Because of the poor visibilityWednesday night , only pilots with a flight instrument rating were given permission to fly.

Evening classes at Pepperdine University’s Irvine campus, near the site, were canceled.

Officials closed Dupont Drive, Business Center Drive and Michaelson Drive. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were en route.