4 Escape Serious Injury in Van Nuys Airport Crash

A single-engine airplane carrying four people, including a 2-year-old boy, lost power and crashed into a hangar, a pickup truck and a parked World II-era plane shortly after taking off from Van Nuys Airport on Saturday.

Those aboard the aircraft escaped serious injury, said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Bill Carter.

The small plane had taken off from the airport about 11:30 a.m., Carter said. When its engine lost power after climbing to a few hundred feet, the pilot tried to circle back to the runway for an emergency landing, Carter said.

But the plane came up short of the north-south runway, crashing in an aircraft parking area on the eastern side of the airport.

The crash occurred just as Aviation Expo ‘89, an air show, was getting under way at the California Air National Guard base on the western side of the airport. The Piper aircraft had nothing to do with the show, which was not interrupted by the crash, Carter said.

The plane struck the top of a sheet-metal hangar owned by Execuflite, a private jet service, before smashing into the cab of the truck and sliding into the fuselage of the parked World War II plane, Carter said.

John Ortega, 28, a manager for Execuflite, said he heard the impact while sitting in his office in a separate building. He said he ran 60 yards to the crash site with a fire extinguisher.

“I saw the lady trying to get out of the plane,” Ortega said. “There was a lot of gasoline, and the passengers were in shock.

“The lady was screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God!’ She was concerned about her baby.”

Fearing that the plane might explode, Ortega said he quickly pulled out the pilot, who was unconscious and bleeding, the baby and another passenger.

“As bad as it was, they were lucky,” he said.

The passengers, who suffered cuts and bruises, were taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

The pilot, Rex Long, 45, was treated and released, as were Justin Rulf, 2, and Kimberly Crawford, 24, a hospital spokeswoman said. Vincent Rulf, 59, was transferred to Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Woodland Hills with head injuries. He was in good condition, the Northridge spokeswoman said.

The Piper’s wings were sheared off as it struck the hangar, and pieces of metal were scattered about the Tarmac near the crash. The fuselage of the Piper settled beneath the wing of the parked plane.

The World War II-vintage plane was seriously damaged by the crash, said its owner, John Bell.

Airport police cordoned off the crash site. Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were en route to the site late Saturday, police said.

The Piper’s intended destination could not be immediately determined.