Pilot Injured in Plane Crash During Landing Near Lancaster

A private plane crashed while trying to make an emergency landing at General William J. Fox Airfield north of Lancaster on Friday, injuring the pilot.

Donald E. Simanski, 49, who suffered a head cut and a back injury, was in serious condition at Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster, where he was taken by helicopter about 20 minutes after his plane crashed just west of Sierra Highway near Avenue D-8.

Simanski, a Lancaster resident flying a twin-engine Piper Apache, radioed the control tower at the airfield shortly before 12:40 p.m. and reported that he was losing power and would attempt an emergency landing, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said.

Simanski attempted one landing approach, then told tower personnel he would have to try again, Sgt. Ron Shreves said.

“He made a low pass but did not land,” Shreves said. “He said his left engine was out.”

Plane Lost Power

Witnesses said the plane lost power and altitude as it headed east, apparently preparing to turn into the wind and attempt another landing approach to the airfield about five miles to the southwest.

“The wind just flipped him over,” said Jim Deppe, who watched the incident from a nearby house.

Another witness, Anthony Matranga, said he was the first to reach the wreckage of the plane, which skidded across the field and through a barbed wire fence before stopping on its shattered nose and left wing. Simanski’s head was bleeding, but he was conscious and able to talk, Matranga said.

Eight people who saw the crash or its aftermath helped pull Simanski from the cockpit before a sheriff’s helicopter arrived, witnesses said.

Officials of the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and the airport said they had not yet determined the pilot’s origin point and destination.