Plane Crash Kills Man on Week of Retirement

A 65-year-old pilot who had planned to retire this week from his job as a toolmaker was killed when his light plane crashed in Lake View Terrace, authorities said Monday.

The body of Merlin Thomas Glass, 65, of San Jacinto, was found after the wreckage of his single-engine Gruman was spotted at 7:40 a.m. on the side of a hill at the Lopez Canyon Landfill, Los Angeles police said.

Glass had been commuting each week from his home in Riverside County to a temporary job at Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Co., said Gail Glass, his wife. He had left Ryan Field in Hemet shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday en route to Burbank airport, police said.

A pilot for more than 50 years, Glass had for years traveled by air to temporary jobs in the Los Angeles area, his wife said. He had been working for Lockheed since December, she said. He often flew into the area on Sunday nights and returned to San Jacinto on Friday nights, she said.

“He was going to retire from work at the end of this week, believe it or not,” she said. “I wish now it had been last week.”

The fatal crash is under investigation by police and the National Transportation Safety Board. However, authorities on Monday had not found what caused Glass’ plane to crash about six miles northwest of Burbank airport.

“The aircraft appeared to have been intact” when it struck the hillside, Detective Stephen Fisk said.

There was no sign of fire on the plane before or after the crash, Fisk said. “There was no indication of a mechanical problem. The fuel tanks ruptured on impact, but there was fuel in the plane.”

Although it is not known if weather played a part in the accident, skies reportedly were clear at the time Glass took off, Fisk said.

There was no indication that Glass had been reported missing, and the wreckage of the white and blue plane was not discovered until a landfill employee spotted it as he arrived for work, police said.

There were no known witnesses to the crash, and investigators were unable to pinpoint its exact time. “It happened sometime during the night,” Fisk said.

A Lockheed official on Monday could not immediately confirm that Glass was employed by the firm.

Gail Glass said her husband had learned to fly when he was 14 and had worked at one time as a crop duster.