Pilot's door was open moments before Fullerton plane crash that killed 2 and injured 19, investigators say
The door to a pilot's plane appeared to be ajar as it took off from Fullerton Airport, moments before it crashed into a warehouse, killing two and injuring 19 others, according to investigators.
The Jan. 2 crash killed a Huntington Beach man, who had been piloting the plane, and his 16-year-old daughter and injured 19 workers in the facility, officials said.
The two killed were identified as Pascal and Kelly Reid.
Citing witness statements and video, investigators said the left door of the Van's Aircraft RV-10 was left ajar after the plane had taken off, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
A witness at the airport saw the plane go by him after takeoff, noticing that the 'left door was open and up. He then saw an arm reach up and pull the door down,' according to the report. The witness assumed that the pilot had closed the door, the report says.
Modifications had been made to the door, including to the standard locking system, which affected the warning system that was designed to alert the pilot when the door isn't closed, according to the report. The door had solid steel locking pins instead of kit-supplied aluminum pins, the report said. The plane's UHMW polyethylene door blocks had also been replaced with chamfered aluminum blocks, according to the report.
Another witness, who knew the pilot, saw him taxi the airplane from the southeast corner of the airport's runway, according to the report. Security video showed that the left front door was 'in the down position' but was 'not flush with the fuselage.'
After takeoff, the pilot transmitted a signal to the control tower for an 'immediate landing' and the tower controller asked whether he could make a left turn, according to the report. The pilot reported that he would land on Runway 24, climbing to about 950 feet and completing a left turn. The plane then passed the threshold for Runway 24, and an 'unintelligible transmission was heard' from the plane.
The plane crashed into the roof of a Michael Nicholas Designs furniture warehouse store, about 1,500 feet from the approach end of Runway 24, according to the report.
Other witnesses said they saw the plane flying lower than normal during its final stages of flight, the report said. The plane rolled to the left and then to the right as its nose dropped and dived toward the warehouse, 'where it collided in a fireball,' according to the report. Just before the crash, the witnesses said, they saw a 'white piece fall from the airplane' that appeared 'panel-like' as it 'floated' to the ground.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Docs: Plane crash that killed Scott Bloomquist ruled a suicide
HAWKINS COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The plane crash that resulted in the death of award-winning dirt track race driver Scott Bloomquist has been ruled a suicide, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). On Aug. 16, 2024, a single-engine Piper J3 flown by Bloomquist crashed into a barn near Mooresburg around 7:50 a.m. PREVIOUS: 'We are devastated:' Racing world reacts to death of Scott Bloomquist The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident to be 'Bloomquist's intentional flight into a building as an act of suicide.' Bloomquist, born in Iowa, was a nationally touring Dirt Super Late Model race car driver. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NBC Sports
40 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
NTSB rules Scott Bloomquist plane crash intentional, suicide
The crash that claimed the life of Scott Bloomquist on August 16, 2024, has been determined as intentional by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), ruling his death a suicide. Dan Beaver, A statement from the NTSB concluded: 'The pilot departed from a private airstrip and overflew his property. The airplane subsequently impacted a barn adjacent to the airstrip. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the fuselage was mostly consumed by the postimpact fire that ensued. The pilot was fatally injured. An autopsy of the pilot was performed by the William L. Jenkins Forensic Center, Johnson City, Tennessee. The autopsy report listed the cause of death as blunt force injuries and the manner of death as suicide.' The full NTSB report is available here. At the time of the crash, Bloomquist was struggling with a series of health issues that included lower-body injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash during 2019 Daytona Bike Week, a diagnosis of prostate cancer, back surgery, and a recent hospitalization due to complications from a horsefly bite that went unnoticed due to numbness from the 2019 motorcycle crash. Bloomquist was one of the winningest drivers in Dirt Late Model history with 94 victories in 502 Lucas Oil Late Model starts, plus 33 victories in the World of Outlaws. Included in his victories were eight wins in the Dirt Late Model Dream and four World 100 triumphs.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
NTSB determines that longtime dirt Late Model racer Scott Bloomquist likely intentionally crashed plane into barn
The National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into longtime dirt racer Scott Bloomquist's fatal plane crash found that Bloomquist likely intentionally flew his plane into a building. Bloomquist's plane crashed into a barn next to an airstrip on his Tennessee property on August 16, 2024. Per the investigation report released on June 5, the NTSB said the probable cause of the crash was 'the pilot's intentional flight into a building as an act of suicide.' 'At this time, the family of Scott Bloomquist is not making any public statements regarding the plane crash or the recent NTSB findings,' a statement said (via Fox Sports). "They are focused on supporting one another and respectfully request privacy as they navigate this difficult period. We appreciate your understanding and ask that the media refrain from the further inquiries at this time.' Bloomquist, 60, is the winningest driver ever in the Lucas Oil dirt Late Model series and is also a World of Outlaws Late Model champion. He's regarded as one of the best dirt track drivers ever and was inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in 2002. He won over 30 Late Model races in the World of Outlaws and had over 90 wins in the Lucas Oil dirt Late Model series. In 2019, Bloomquist suffered significant lower-body injuries in a motorcycle accident in Daytona. A year before his plane crash, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer ahead of a scheduled back surgery. Not long before his plane crash, Bloomquist said he had to be hospitalized because he didn't notice a horsefly bite he had received on one of his legs because of continued numbness from the injuries sustained in the motorcycle crash.
