Qualifications of Pilot in Crash Are Questioned

The pilot presumed to be at the controls of a private plane that crashed in heavy fog near Fullerton Airport, killing three people, was not qualified to make an instrument landing, federal aviation officials said Tuesday.

But investigators still were trying to determine whether pilot Michael Benson was at the controls or whether his passenger--an Anaheim city employee who also was a pilot--was flying Monday when the six-seat Piper Cherokee slammed into a townhouse complex while attempting to land.

The question is a crucial one because only the passenger was qualified to do a landing with instruments often used in inclement weather when visibility is poor, investigators said Tuesday. The thick morning fog at the time of the accident obscured the runway and made a visual landing almost impossible.

Moments before Monday’s crash, air traffic controllers in San Diego had received a request from the aircraft for an instrument approach to the airport, National Transportation Safety Board Regional Director Gary Mucho said.

Benson, co-owner of the Cherokee, had never been certified for instrument flying, Mucho said. Benson’s passenger, Les Arehart, was instrument-rated for flying in bad weather, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mitch Barker said.

Benson, 40, and Arehart, 47, both of Big Bear, died when the plane dived into a Fullerton townhouse complex at 6:35 a.m. Resident Sharan Ernst, 43, was killed while asleep in her bedroom. At least 16 people were left homeless.

FAA officials said Benson had a clean record, but Arehart’s pilot license was suspended for 60 days in 1992. Arehart, who was paralyzed in a traffic accident two decades ago, had been cited for losing control of an aircraft during takeoff and striking the runway edge. “He had non-approved hand and brake controls for a paraplegic,” Barker said.

“At this point, we don’t know who was at the controls,” Mucho said. “Both men had access to the controls, even though the pilot in the right seat [Arehart] was paraplegic.”

Jan Ehrenberg, general manager at the Aero Haven flight school in Big Bear, said the 23-year-old plane was equipped for instrument flying. Benson learned to fly at Aero Haven and was licensed about 18 months ago, Ehrenberg said. Arehart was a weekend charter pilot and flight instructor at Aero Haven.

Mucho said that Benson had 200 to 300 hours flying time experience. Arehart, a veteran pilot, had accumulated more than 1,500 hours of flying time, Ehrenberg said.

Investigators said the complex where the plane crashed is about a mile away and right below the approach to the landing runway at Fullerton Airport.

On Tuesday, NTSB investigators were examining the wreckage, including propellers, engine, flight control instruments and FAA radar records to determine the cause of the accident, Mucho said. Investigators are not ruling out mechanical failure, pilot error or the foggy weather that enveloped much of Southern California the morning of the crash, he said.

The plane had taken off from Big Bear Airport about 6 a.m. Monday bound for Fullerton without the pilot filing a flight plan, Mucho said. The aircraft was flying on visual flight rules, meaning that it was not being tracked by FAA radar, and the pilot controlled the plane literally by watching where he was going.

When the plane was about 10 miles from the airport, FAA air traffic controllers in San Diego received a request for an instrument approach from the aircraft. However, NTSB investigators are not sure who made the request because the pilot usually contacts traffic controllers by giving the plane’s tail number--which was 888JK--rather than a name.

Mucho said there is no evidence that the pilot ever attempted to abort the landing or continue to another airport. “All indications are that he only made one approach,” Mucho said.

Investigators are waiting for the plane’s logbooks to dry out to learn how many previous landings Benson had made at Fullerton Airport in hopes of determining how familiar he was with the facility and its surroundings.

“We’d like to know how many times he landed there in the last 30 to 90 days,” Mucho said.

Ehrenberg said Benson commuted daily by plane from Big Bear to his foundry business, Major Brass Corp., in Gardena. On Mondays, Benson would usually drop off Arehart at Fullerton Airport before continuing to Hawthorne Airport, she said.

Benson’s colleagues at Major Brass said the crash was puzzling to them.

“Both Mike and Les are excellent pilots, and neither one of them are gamblers. That’s what has stymied us,” company spokesman David Jones said. “I’ve flown with Mike, and he was real by-the-book. He had a lot of [flying] hours and was very comfortable with a plane. And Les was a longtime pilot.”

On Tuesday, Fullerton residents who had been forced to flee from their Malvern Avenue townhomes in panic the previous day returned to sift through the rubble of what was once their homes.

On the driveway of the eight-unit complex sat a surfboard, some clothes, an ice chest, a pair of red boots, a computer, stereo equipment and file cabinets--all covered with ashes.

“We’ve gotten out everything that we can,” said 29-year-old Alan White, whose three-level home was destroyed. He managed to salvage a metal footlocker in which he had scrapbooks and other mementos from high school and college.

White, and roommates Ed Borgelt, 30, and Robert Corbin, 27, worried that Corbin’s gray and white cat Morwick had died in the blaze that followed the crash. On Tuesday, they heard a faint “meow” as they toured the charred remains of their townhouse where they had lived for five years, but otherwise found no trace of the cat.

“We had let her out earlier that morning,” White said. “Maybe she was just spooked and is all right. Hopefully, she’ll be back.”

White said that while losing his possessions is devastating, he was just glad to have escaped with his life.

“My father said to me, ‘Maybe you should go out and buy a lottery ticket now. It’s your turn,’ ” White said. “This is all really unsettling. But I feel worse for the family next door. They lost their mother.”

White and his two roommates lived next door to Sharan Ernst, the only person on the ground to die in the crash. Ernst’s husband, Ron, also returned to the family home Tuesday morning and began the grim task of loading what remained of their possessions into a pickup truck.

Damage from the fire at the complex is estimated to be in excess of $350,000, according to the Fullerton Fire Department.

Nearby residents, some who have lived in the flight path of Fullerton Airport for many years, said the crash has renewed the fears that had always lingered in the backs of their minds.

“What I can’t understand is why the planes can’t go over a main street instead of over a residential area,” said 17-year resident Sudie Kernes, who lives less than a block from the crash site. “If they are going to hit something, why does it have to be us?”

Airport Director Roland Elder said Tuesday that the city’s Noise and Safety Committee, which is comprised of local residents, will discuss the crash at its Nov. 30 meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at Fullerton City Hall.

“The meeting is open to everyone,” Elder said. “We will go over everything we can with them.”

Elder said it is still too early to tell whether it is relevant that the airport’s control tower was not yet open at the time of the crash. The tower opens at 7 a.m. each day and closes at 9 p.m.

The FAA’s Barker said he “does not believe there is a correlation between having a traffic control tower open and the degree of safety. There are lots and lots of airports in the country that do not have towers,” he said.

Times staff writer Karen D’Souza and correspondent Alan Eyerly contributed to this report.