California IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : Pilot Killed After Bailing Out of Plane
An Encinitas man described by fellow fliers as a highly qualified pilot was killed Friday when he bailed out of his homemade airplane after the engine began sputtering during a test flight above Brown Field in Otay Mesa. James A. Speyer, 41, was approaching the landing strip at an altitude of 150 feet when the plane’s engine apparently failed and the left wing fell off, said Bill Leard of the San Diego County medical examiner’s office. Speyer bailed out, but his parachute did not have time to open because he was too near the ground, Leard said.
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