Plane Crashes Near Lancaster Airport; Pilot Dies

A pilot was killed Tuesday in Lancaster while attempting to land his small plane near Fox Field.

The blue, single-engine Cessna 182 went down at 10:05 a.m. in a field near 60th Street West and Avenue G, about a mile from the runway, authorities said. National Transportation Safety Board investigators had not determined the cause of the crash late Tuesday.

Authorities did not release the identity of the pilot, who apparently was alone in the plane. No one on the ground was injured.

Officials at Fox Field said they did not believe the pilot was from the Lancaster area and had no information about where his flight originated or where he was going. The pilot had been in touch with the Fox Field control tower, but officials there declined to elaborate, referring questions to the NTSB investigators.

Several witnesses who were driving on 60th Street West at the time said they saw the plane crash.

“We were about a mile away and saw it going straight down,” said Jerry Calhoun, 46, of Lake Hughes. “It [went] straight on in.”

Lynn Henson, 47, of Rosamond was the first person on the scene and saw crash debris strewn over a wide area.

“It takes a moment to register,” Henson said. “I saw this blue plane going real fast straight down, and then a big cloud of dirt flew up.”