Sightseeing Trip Ends in Death : Had No Warning of Collision, Pilot Says

A pilot said Saturday that he received no warning of a collision between his aircraft and another small plane that resulted in the death of a Ventura dentist.

“All of a sudden, without any warning or any visual sighting, there was a tremendous impact,” Robert Bruce of Camarillo said of the accident that occurred just before 10:30 a.m. Friday. “The windshield was gone, and I was trying to keep control of the aircraft.”

Bruce, 38, a captain with the Culver City Fire Department, had taken off from Santa Paula Airport about eight minutes earlier for a day of sightseeing with his friend, Mike Creadick, also of Camarillo. With them were their sons, Kevin Bruce and Ryan Creadick, both 5.

Bruce, a pilot of six years, said he was flying a rented Cessna 172 at an altitude of about 3,000 feet when the windshield suddenly exploded and the plane dipped radically. At first, Bruce thought he had hit a bird, but then he saw another Cessna 172 fall off to the left.

In that plane were Donald Waldman, 35, and Ernie Strong, 45. Waldman died when the plane crashed into a field 5 miles northwest of Camarillo Airport. Strong was critically injured.

Bruce, meanwhile, quickly regained control of his aircraft. “I remember telling them, ‘Look, we’re going to make it,’ ” he said. The impact damaged the propeller and cracked the engine cowling, but Bruce realized that the plane was flyable, radioed a Mayday call and steered for Camarillo Airport.

The impact knocked off his sunglasses, so Bruce squinted in the 100-m.p.h. wind. A large cut on his jaw bled wildly, splattering his T-shirt and shorts.

“I was bleeding quite a bit,” he said. “But that was secondary to what was happening at the time.”

Although the airport could hear Bruce, he could not hear the airport over wind rushing through the open cockpit. A constant blast of air from the damaged propeller made the noise even worse, he said. “It’s like being in a hurricane.”

Without really knowing whether the airport would be prepared for his landing or whether other craft would stay clear, he made his approach.

But the landing was surprisingly easy. “I remember that, when we touched down, I said, ‘We’re down, we’re OK.’ ” He was fuzzy on what he did next. “I know I hugged my boy.”

Creadick suffered only minor injuries and the two boys were unhurt. Strong was listed in critical condition Saturday at Ventura County Medical Center. Officials of the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

Bruce said he was “still a little shaken up” and somewhat sore Saturday, but was doing well overall.

He said he’ll fly again, but added: “I did have a flight scheduled for next week that I canceled.”