2 Injured When Plane Crashes in Celery Field

Two men escaped serious injury Sunday when their vintage plane stalled during a takeoff and crashed into a celery field next to Oxnard Airport.

Pilot Mike Alfred and passenger Steve Batinic suffered several cuts in the crash. Alfred also had a broken nose, said Battalion Chief Terry McAnally of the Oxnard Fire Department.

Both men were treated at the scene. Their ages and hometowns were not available.

The aircraft, a 1954 single-engine two-seater, was destroyed.

“These are some lucky guys,” McAnally said.

Alfred was practicing touch-and-go takeoffs and landings when they crashed about 3:30 p.m. on the south side of West 5th Street, McAnally said.

Alfred told authorities he had just touched down and taken off when he heard a sound like a rod snapping and then lost power.

Alfred steered the plane away from an orchard and was heading toward the celery field when the wing clipped a eucalyptus tree and the wheels brushed a high-voltage power line.

Both men were waiting outside the plane when firefighters arrived, McAnally said.

The plane’s brush with the power line knocked out service to more than 3,000 customers in the area, authorities said. Power was expected to be restored late Sunday.

A mile of 5th Street was closed for more than two hours, causing minor traffic backups, said Oxnard Police Cmdr. Lee Wilcox.