2 Local Women Among 3 Killed in Air Race Crash : Aviation: Officials probe engine trouble as possible cause of Nevada accident--first fatal one in 17 years of Valley Air Derby, which starts in Van Nuys.

Federal aviation officials were investigating the possibility of engine trouble in a plane that crashed during an air race, killing two local women and a man from Great Britain.

The crash in the Nevada desert Saturday was the first fatal accident in the 17-year history of the Valley Air Derby, a race flown out of Van Nuys Airport and sponsored by the Ninety Nines, an all-women flying group.

The victims were identified as pilot Ilse DeVries, 67, of Los Angeles; co-pilot John Mosely, 66, of Great Britain, and passenger Barbara Baer, 67, of Sherman Oaks. It was Baer’s first Derby.

“She was very excited about the trip and was looking forward to it,” her husband, Dan Baer, said Sunday.

Derby organizers said spectators at Mesquite Airport, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, watched in shock as the Beechcraft Bonanza circled the airport and began to tumble about 12:25 p.m. Saturday.

“You could tell the plane was in trouble,” said Mary Rawlings, co-chairwoman of the race, who spoke with witnesses. “Everyone has just been devastated by this,” she said.

The plane flew 200 to 400 feet above the finish line and, as expected, headed away from the airport. But DeVries did not make the expected wide arc before returning to the airport, nor did she appear to reach the recommended altitude of 3,000 feet above sea level, race officials said. Instead, Rawlings said, the plane made a sharp U-turn, headed back to the airport and began to fall about half a mile short of the airstrip.

Witnesses said they could hear the engine sputtering on the plane’s “flyby,” but airport officials said they did not receive a trouble call from the pilot.

Capt. Greg Smith of the Mohave County Sheriff’s Department said the three died on impact. Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said they are investigating the cause of the crash.

Baer, an Encino psychotherapist, joined the Ninety Nines about 18 months ago. She had long had a passion for flying.

“As a youngster she was pilot for the UCLA Flying Club,” said her son, Dan Goetz. “As a senior in 1950 she got polio. Then she couldn’t fly any longer. She maintained an interest in flying, but she just couldn’t pursue it.”

The plane was one of 33 participating in the Derby. For the last two years, the planes have raced from Van Nuys to Mesquite, a 400-mile trip.

The Ninety Nines were founded in 1929 in Long Island, N.Y., to further aviation education and safety and promote women in aviation. Its first president was Amelia Earhart.

In 1952, San Fernando Valley women formed a local chapter, based at Van Nuys Airport. Its members have included former WASPs--Women Air Force Service Pilots--who during World War II ferried aircraft across the country in World War II and performed other military flying duties.