FAA Tries to Determine Who Piloted Plane : Crash: Man believed to be at controls was not certified to make an instrument landing, officials say. Two in aircraft and woman in Fullerton townhouse died.

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

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

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

Benson, co-owner of the Cherokee, was not certified for instrument flying, Mucho said. Arehart was instrument rated for flying in bad weather, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mitch Barker.

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

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,” said the NTSB’s Mucho.

Jan Ehrenberg, general manager at the Aero Haven flight school in Big Bear, said the 23-year-old plane had the instruments needed for instrument flying.

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

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.

The plane had taken off from Big Bear Airport about 6 a.m. Monday headed for Fullerton Airport 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 by watching where he was going.

But the plane flew into heavy fog in Orange County. When it 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 using a name.