Two Killed in Air Collision but One Craft Lands Safely

Two light planes collided over the San Gabriel Valley on Saturday, sending one plummeting into a residential neighborhood in Temple City and killing both people aboard.

The other plane made a safe emergency landing at nearby Burbank Airport, officials said.

The plane that crashed, a single-engine Cessna 152, apparently lost its tail in the collision. The plane slammed into the front yard of the home of retired Walt Disney film animator Ward Kimball at 2:13 p.m. The aircraft’s tail section was recovered about a mile away, sheriff’s deputies said.

The plane struck nose-down in a cloud of dust, three feet from Kimball’s studio, shearing a large magnolia tree in two, Kimball said. Kimball, his wife Betty and daughter Kelly were inside the house and were not hurt.

Loud Roar, Then Crash

“We heard a loud roar and two seconds later we heard the crash,” said Kimball, 72. “It went nose first and collapsed just like a foam cup.”

Debris from the plane was scattered throughout the neighborhood, including a propeller that crashed through the roof of a house a block away. Identity of the two victims was withheld pending notification of their families.

The 31-year-old pilot of the second plane, a twin-engine Cessna 411, landed at Burbank Airport, about 10 miles away. Police Officer Jay A. Mason said the pilot was on a business trip and began his flight at Fullerton Airport in Orange County and was headed for Van Nuys Airport.

FAA and Sheriff’s Department investigators were interviewing the pilot Saturday in an effort to find out the cause of the collision. Authorities declined to release the name of the pilot.

Both planes were flying under visual flight rules at the time of the crash, and were not in radio contact with any Federal Aviation Administration facility, an agency duty officer said.

The left propeller of the plane that landed safely was severely damaged in the collision, which occurred over Rosemead Boulevard near the intersection of Ardendale Avenue. FAA aviation safety inspector Ladd Scott said of the pilot of the damaged plane: “He brought it in here and landed it, so it was flyable. He probably did a really good job of being cool.”

The Kimballs have lived in the one-story house on its two-acre lot since 1939. Kimball retired after a 40-year career at Disney Studios, during which the animator and director worked on many features, including “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Dumbo” and “Pinocchio.”

Staff writer Gabe Fuentes contributed to this article.