The State - News from May 10, 1988

An error by an air traffic controller may have contributed to the 1987 jet crash that killed actor Dean Paul Martin, son of entertainer Dean Martin, a newspaper reported. A controller warning, which incorrectly gave the location of Mt. San Gorgonio, may have caused Martin to turn too sharply and lose control of his F-4C Phantom jet, said veteran Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier. LeVier made his conclusions after reviewing an accident analysis by the U.S. Air Force and California Air National Guard, according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise. Martin, a Guard captain, and his weapons officer, Capt. Ramon Ortiz, 39, died March 21, 1987, when the jet slammed into a mountainside. Air Force pilots and air traffic controllers declined to comment on what might have caused the fatal crash. But LeVier said it is clear Martin made too sharp a left turn, probably in a moment of panic as he feared hitting the mountain.