4 Men Killed in Twin-Engine Plane Crash on Approach to Big Bear Airport
Four men were killed Thursday when their twin-engine airplane suddenly lost power and plunged into a stand of pine trees on approach to Big Bear Airport, authorities said.
The Cessna 310, which had taken off from Corona Municipal Airport, was descending behind a smaller airplane when it lost power at 500 feet and went into a tail spin, crashing just 150 yards from homes on the eastern shore of Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Bryant said. No one on the ground was reported injured.
Coroner’s officials said the victims were the pilot, Ted Raymond Hill, 51, of Buena Park; Robert Charles Fenrich, 54, of Anaheim; Ted Tucker, 35, of Anaheim Hills, and Manard Witherspoon, 31, of Corona.
Hill, the airplane owner, was a business agent for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union in Los Angeles, his son, Brian, said.
Tucker and Hill were best friends, and the other two men were co-workers of Tucker’s at Coldwell Banker, Brian Hill said, adding the men were flying to the mountain resort for an afternoon lunch.
The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating.
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