SANTA MONICA : 2 Plane Crashes Blamed on Bad Maintenance, Pilot Error

Improper maintenance was blamed in one instance and pilot error in another as the National Transportation Safety Board issued findings on two fatal light-plane crashes last year near Santa Monica Airport.

The safety board said that a single-engine Piper Cherokee crashed March 11, 1994, because the engine cowling--improperly fastened after repairs--came loose as the plane attempted to return to the airport, creating so much wind resistance that the aircraft could no longer fly.

The pilot, 22-year-old David Thompson of Culver City, survived the crash with burns and a broken leg. But his passenger, 35-year-old airplane mechanic Greg Leslie--the one who apparently forgot to fasten the cowling--was killed.

Investigators said Thompson and Leslie, who also was employed as a guitarist for the Hollywood-based rock band Grind, had been working on the plane at the airport before what was to have been a short test flight.

Thompson said that shortly after takeoff, the cowling lifted a couple of inches. Thompson said that as he attempted to return for an emergency landing, the cowling dislodged further, creating so much wind resistance that the plane began to lose speed and altitude, eventually slamming into some buildings near Barrington Avenue and National Boulevard.

Passersby pulled Thompson to safety, but Leslie died in the burning wreckage.

The investigation determined that it was the left side of the cowling--the side on which Leslie reportedly had been working--that came loose.

Investigators said pilot Patrick Dean Brinnon, 36, of Northridge died on April 20, 1994, because his plane ran out of gas.

Witnesses said that moments after takeoff, the single engine on Brinnon’s Piper Saratoga 32A began to sputter and then quit.

They said the plane, which had attained an altitude of about 400 feet, began a U-turn in an apparent attempt to get back to the airport. Suddenly, they said, the plane pitched nose down and plummeted into a residential garage, bursting into flames. Brinnon, who was alone in the plane, apparently was killed on impact.

Investigators said the fuel switch in the wrecked plane was turned to the left tank, which contained only about a pint of gas. The right tank, they said, contained about a gallon.

Federal regulations prohibit takeoffs with less than 45 minutes’ worth of fuel on board. The plane consumes at least 20 gallons per hour. The safety board blamed Brinnon’s failure to monitor his fuel supply--coupled with his failure to keep his plane on a proper glide slope after the engine quit--for the accident.

The agency has yet to issue a report on a third crash near the airport that killed three people in November, 1993. The reports on the 1994 crashes were issued earlier this month.