Pilot killed in Chino crash
A 57-year-old La Mirada man was killed Friday afternoon when the experimental plane he was piloting crashed in the front lawn of a house near Chino Airport.
“The pilot was planning on just doing a little practice work and landing back at Chino,” said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.
The single-engine, Sky Gear plane took off at 1:25 p.m. and crashed two minutes later, an FAA official said. The agency has begun an investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Sky Gear specializes in ultralight and light sport airplanes for training and flying, according to its website, but model information on the craft that crashed was not immediately available.
The pilot, whose identity was not released, had been building and testing planes in the area for more than 20 years and was a licensed pilot, according to city spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden.
Witnesses said the plane was 200 to 300 feet from the ground when the engine sputtered and the plane crashed, Van Der Linden said. The plane did not catch fire when it went down, officials said.
The aircraft crashed on the lawn of a house on Merrill Avenue near Euclid Avenue. The unoccupied house was being used for storage, Van Der Linden said. No other houses were near the crash site.
*
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
