Thousand Oaks Man Dies in Plane Crash
A single-engine plane crashed into a fog-shrouded hillside on the Conejo Grade near Camarillo Sunday night, killing the pilot, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department reported.
Frederick Steuer, 53, of Thousand Oaks died on impact when the Piper Cherokee Arrow crashed about 300 feet below the top of the ridge, said Dale Zentzis, investigator for the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s office.
Steuer was alone in the plane, authorities said.
He had left Fresno earlier Sunday and had dropped off a passenger at Van Nuys Airport before starting the last leg of his trip to Camarillo Sunday evening, Zentzis said. The plane crashed about six miles northeast of Camarillo Airport, Zentzis said.
The plane disappeared about 9:50 p.m. from radar screens at the Point Mugu Naval Air Station air traffic control tower, and its emergency locater transmitter signal was picked up immediately afterward, Sgt. Herb Roper said. The tower had twice warned the pilot to increase altitude moments before the crash, Roper said.
Sheriff’s deputies, assisted by two helicopters and members of the sheriff’s search and rescue team, discovered the wreckage at 1:45 a.m. Monday in a remote area about three-quarters of a mile north of the Ventura Freeway, Roper said.
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