Pilot Walks Away From Crash

The pilot of a single-engine Cessna escaped serious injury Sunday night when his aircraft crashed in a dirt field near Unocal’s research and development plant here, authorities said.

The pilot, 25-year-old Edwin Frederick Kelly from the Caribbean island of Aruba, walked away from the wreckage with minor injuries, Brea Police Lt. Douglas Dickerson said.

There was no fire after the 8:40 p.m. crash, leading investigators to speculate that the plane ran out of fuel, Dickerson said.

After escaping from the wreckage, Kelly walked about 100 yards to a guard shack at Unocal’s Fred L. Hartley Research Center, where he asked for help. The center is on the northeast corner of Imperial Highway and Valencia Avenue.

Wilkerson said Kelly had earlier radioed the air traffic control tower at the Fullerton Airport to say that he was encountering difficulties with his plane.

“He appeared to be trying to crash land the plane in the Unocal parking lot, but he clipped some power lines and went down,” Wilkerson said.

A Unocal security guard who declined to give his name said he heard a loud explosion when the plane crashed into the electrical wires. “But the man in the plane was not too banged up,” the guard said. “He walked away from it.”

Kelly was taken to Placentia Linda Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries, Wilkerson said.

The crash knocked out power to about 100 homes in Placentia, Yorba Linda and Brea, Wilkerson said.