Investigators Interview Pilots After Planes Bump in Midair
A federal investigator on Monday interviewed the pilots of two planes that bumped over Westminster on Sunday night, an incident that the men were lucky to survive, aviation experts say.
“They are either lucky or good pilots and probably both,” said Rod Propst, Fullerton Airport manager.
Michael F. Hartman, 40, of Montclair was flying his single-engine Cessna 172 in formation behind a Pitts Special S-1S piloted by Martin W. Kusch, 33, of Rancho Cucamonga, investigators said. The two collided about 6:50 p.m. a few miles southwest of Disneyland.
The pilots radioed the Fullerton Airport tower, declaring an emergency. They flew their crippled planes to Fullerton and circled the airport to give fire engines and rescue vehicles time to get into position on the runway before they tried to land.
Hartman’s Cessna propeller was damaged and the tail section--the vertical stabilizer, or rudder--of Kusch’s single-engine, single-seat craft was sliced.
“There were no injuries, and that’s miraculous,” said Jerry Snyder, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Los Angeles.
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