Engine Problem May Have Caused Pilot to Lose Control of Crash Plane

Investigators examining the remains of a single-engine plane that crashed into a Buena Park apartment complex said Monday that an engine problem may have caused the pilot to lose control of the aircraft.

Lewis T. Hassman of Westminster, owner and pilot of the blue-and-white Piper Cherokee Arrow, was killed moments after taking off Saturday afternoon from Fullerton Municipal Airport when the plane clipped a palm tree, cartwheeled and slammed into the Village apartments in the 7100 block of Melrose Street. Despite the fire that damaged four buildings, no one on the ground was injured.

Hassman, 64, an aeronautical engineer, died from fourth-degree burns that covered his body, said Richard Slaughter, supervising deputy of the county coroner’s office.

Witnesses said that the plane appeared to lose power shortly before it plummeted and that its engine sputtered seconds before going dead.

Gary Mucho, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board field office in Los Angeles, said that although investigators “are looking at everything” which may have caused the crash, preliminary evidence suggests that a “possible engine problem” may have been to blame.

“So far we are basing that on witnesses’ testimony,” Mucho said, adding that from the investigation to date, there was nothing to indicate mechanical problems were evident before takeoff or that proper flight procedures were not followed.

“Everything is normal so far,” he said.

The initial investigation, undertaken with the Federal Aviation Administration, should be completed “in a couple of days,” Mucho said. The results of the investigation, which will be released by the NTSB in Washington, are expected before the end of the year.

Mucho said NTSB investigator Don Llorente was examining the remains of the aircraft, which have been removed from the crash site.

A spokesperson for General Aviation Co. at the Fullerton airport, which leased the plane from Hassman, refused to comment about the aircraft. It could not be immediately determined whether the plane has had engine problems in the past or whether it had recently been recently serviced.

Shortly before takeoff, the plane took on 60 gallons of gasoline and underwent a cursory inspection, Mucho said. Hassman had filed a flight plan listing his destination as Pendleton, Ore.

Neighbors said Hassman had intended to visit his wife, Christine, 61, who has been living at the El Zora Manor nursing home in Milton-Freewater, Ore., since July. Christine Hassman, who has relatives in nearby Pendleton, suffered a stroke two years ago.

Euva Berry, the owner and administrator of the nursing home, said Hassman made regular trips to visit his wife and had been “quite attentive” to her.

Berry said Christine Hassman, who has not been informed of her husband’s death, was apparently unaware that he intended to visit her Saturday.

“He didn’t have a set schedule,” Berry said, “so she wouldn’t have known he was coming.”

Gloria Hassman of Garden Grove was scheduled to arrive at the nursing home Monday to break the news of her father’s death.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.