WESTMINSTER : Air Crash Victim’s Life Remembered

A 34-year-old resident killed in a plane crash Saturday was described Monday as an “all-around good person,” friendly to customers at the pharmacy he headed in Huntington Beach.

Darrell D. Thom, a pharmacist for the past 10 years at the Lucky Food Center on Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach, died Saturday when the small airplane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff from the Swansboro Airport near Placerville.

Thom enjoyed helping people, which made him decide to become a pharmacist after graduating from high school, but flying was one of his life’s main joys, his brother Randy said Monday from his hospital bed at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

Randy Thom, 31, was one of four passengers injured when the single-engine Piper Cherokee Warrior apparently was pushed to the ground by a sudden downdraft.

“He was an all-around good person,” Randy Thom said. “All his customers at the store loved him as a pharmacist. He was a good man. We’ll miss him.”

Also hurt in the crash were the Thoms’ cousin, Doug Ostercamp, 30, his 5-year-old son, Doug Jr., and a friend, Marshall Racine, all of Swansboro. Thom and the Ostercamps were in fair condition Monday with broken bones, cuts and severe bruises. Racine, who was taken to Marshall Hospital in Placerville, is recovering from cuts to his face and broken fingers.

Randy Thom said he flew with his wife to Orange County last week from Minneapolis as a delayed honeymoon for their year-old marriage. They wanted to visit Darrell and fly up to Swansboro to visit their cousin and family, he said. They left Fullerton Airport on Friday.

They were taking off Saturday from Swansboro on their way to Placerville when a strong downdraft forced the plane down at least 20 feet and into the top of a tall pine tree, Randy Thom said.

Darrell Thom was pronounced dead at the scene.