Fullerton Airport Officials Ponder Ideas for a Bruce Wayne Memorial

Fullerton officials plan to create a memorial for Bruce Wayne, the KFI-AM radio traffic reporter who died when his airplane crashed on June 4, shortly after taking off from Fullerton Municipal Airport.

But airport administrators have not yet decided what kind of memorial to recommend to the City Council. So far, suggestions include renaming the airport terminal after Wayne or giving his name to a $2.5-million, 54-hangar complex scheduled to be finished early next ayear.

Rod Murphy, airport director, said administrators have also thought of installing a bust or plaque, perhaps in the terminal.

Some had suggested renaming the airport, where Wayne based his single-engine Cessna Cardinal airplane. But “renaming it would be confusing” because the airfield is too close to John Wayne Airport in Newport Beach. The similarity in names would also create ambiguities in charts and other flying references, Murphy said.

He said he expects airport administrators to make a recommendation in August.

“Everyone at the airport really feels the loss,” said Murphy, a friend of Wayne.

The crash is still under investigation, but its cause may never be known because critical evidence was lost in the explosion and fire that resulted from the crash, investigators said.