Pilot Gets 6 Months Over Plane Crash That Killed 2 : Aviation: The men drowned after the Encino resident dipped a wing into the ocean while showing off.

An Encino pilot was sentenced to six months in jail Tuesday after pleading no contest to manslaughter in the deaths of two friends who were killed when he dipped the wing of his plane into the ocean while showing off on a flight near Malibu.

Roger Amiran, 27, was sentenced by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dino John Fulgoni for the April 9, 1987, plane crash that resulted in the drowning deaths of Matthew Fry, 23, of Agoura and John Harris, 23, of Northridge.

Amiran and a third passenger, Laurie Ann Thuer, 22, of Simi Valley survived the crash and were picked up by rescuers.

Amiran, who investigators said had been drinking before the flight, was initially charged with second-degree murder. Under a plea agreement, he was allowed to plead no contest to involuntary manslaughter and face no more than a year in jail.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lonnie A. Felker asked Fulgoni to impose the one-year term. Felker, a pilot who owns a Piper aircraft similar to the one Amiran crashed, said the pilot dipped his wing into the ocean to create a water spray while boasting of his flying abilities.

“It was not a terrible accident. It was his fault,” Felker said. “What we had here was a person who was reckless. He was hotdogging.”

Family members of the two victims joined Felker in asking for the one-year sentence while Amiran, who apologized for his actions, asked to be placed on probation. Fulgoni ordered him jailed for six months and to complete 200 hours of community service and three years’ probation.

According to investigators and testimony in a preliminary hearing in the case, Amiran rented the plane at Van Nuys Airport for an evening flight along the coast. Thuer testified that during the 9 p.m. flight Amiran flew so low to the ocean surface that “it was as if you were on a boat and could stick your feet in the water.”

Seconds later, she testified, the plane dipped, a wing hit the ocean and the aircraft went tumbling.

Amiran registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.02% when tested three hours after the accident, officials said. The legal limit for pilots is 0.04%.