Aircraft Collide; 2 Die, Kirk Douglas Injured

Actor Kirk Douglas and Noel Blanc, son of Mel Blanc, the legendary master of cartoon voices, were injured Wednesday and two men were killed when a helicopter and small plane collided above the Santa Paula Airport in northern Ventura County.

The collision occurred at 3:30 p.m. as a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter carrying Douglas, 74, Blanc, 52, and another man who also was injured took off to the north and was clipped by a Pitts stunt plane taking off to the west.

Both the pilot of the plane, Lee Manalski, an aerobatics instructor at the Santa Paula Airport, and his lone passenger were killed, said Santa Paula Fire Department spokesman Bill Nash. The passenger was not immediately identified.

“The plane attempted to take evasive action and hit the rotors of the helicopter,” Nash said. He said the helicopter plunged 20 to 40 feet to the ground while the plane kept going, crashing about 200 feet north of the copter.

The plane flipped over and flames broke out, followed by an explosion, witnesses said.

The airport in Santa Paula, a small farming community in the county’s citrus belt, has no control tower and pilots are governed by visual flight rules, said Nash.

Douglas was listed in stable condition at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital with a possible rib fracture and cuts to his head, Santa Paula Police Sgt. Mark Trimble said.

Blanc was in serious condition with chest injuries and a fracture of the right leg.

The third injured man, Michael Carra, a Beverly Hills policeman, was listed in stable condition with multiple cuts and bruises to his upper body.

A paramedic who transported Douglas and the injured victims to the hospital said they were disoriented and told him that they didn’t know what had happened.

“They knew there was an accident but not why it happened,” paramedic Jason Johnson said.

But according to Trimble, all three men were alert and talking with hospital staff when they were brought into the hospital about 4 p.m.

It was not immediately clear why Douglas, Blanc and Carra were in Santa Paula.

No one on the ground was hurt.

One witness, Shawn Willhite, a flight instructor at the airport, said he turned “and saw a ball of flames” just after the collision.

“It was a pretty big impact,” he said.

Another eyewitness, Ramon Plascentis, an airport employee, said:

“They didn’t see each other until the last moment. As the airplane came down, little pieces began flying around the runway. There was some fire coming out of it. Then it exploded. They never had a chance.”

The Santa Paula Airport is a general aviation facility that lies between California 126 and the Santa Clara River bed.