Second plane crashes near La Verne airport in 2 days
POMONA, Calif. (FOX 11 / CNS) - A person was killed Monday in the crash of a Beech Bonanza aircraft near Brackett Field Airport in La Verne, the second fatal airplane crash near that airfield in two days.
County firefighters were sent to the 1600 block of McKinley Avenue to assist the La Verne Fire Department at the scene of the crash shortly before noon.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the airplane with one person aboard was on approach to the airport when it crashed. The coroner's office was sending personnel to the scene.
About 6 p.m. Sunday, one person was killed and a second person was injured when a Cessna plane missed the runway as the pilot was practicing approaches to Brackett Field and crashed into a nearby plant nursery, according to the FAA.
The names of the man who died and the woman who was injured in Sunday's crash were withheld, pending notification of relatives. The condition of the woman was unavailable.
The crashes will both be investigated by La Verne police, the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA.
Dan Kitzler who works at a coffee shop nearby took video of the crash.
"...all of a sudden it started going down and that's when people on the patio started screaming omigosh the plane is going down," Kitzler.
"Right before I pulled I could see a second fireball erupting, I think a fuel tank must have gone up, like an explosion maybe," said Neal Shireman.
The pilot was the only person inside.
He didn't make it.
The President of the Brackett Airmen Association says the Beachcraft V35 is owned by a company based in Irwindale.
Monday afternoon, a coroner's van and firefighters surrounded it just a few hundred feet from where airport employees like Kathy Collatin looked on.
"Very nice. Very nice gentleman. Has been flying since he was a baby I would say. Long time. Really knew his stuff. Never know when this stuff will happen," said Collatin.
The pilot died in the crash Sunday night and a woman passenger was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Back to back crashes, leaving many in the area without answers.
"It's just amazing that it happened twice in 15 hours - I've been here a year and a half and never seen anything," Amber Hernandez.
The NTSB is still investigating.
It's still unknown who was inside of it when it crashed
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