Sun May Be The Cause Of Plane Collision

Federal investigators are beginning to think that glare from the sun may have been a primary cause of the weekend collision of two small planes over Corona, killing four people in the aircraft and one on the ground.

Physical evidence appears to confirm witness reports that the planes collided in flight before plummeting to the ground, and there was no immediate evidence of mechanical problems, said Wayne Pollack of the National Transportation Safety Board.

The skies were clear, but he said inspectors were looking into whether the afternoon sun may have played a role.

Corona resident Patrick Crask, 41, who often flies out of the local airport, told the Los Angeles Times he had planned to fly Sunday but decided not to because the sun was so bright he worried about visibility on takeoff.

"The sun can often be almost unbearable," he said. "If you were to come here at around 4 p.m., the sun is blinding for a good two minutes. You need to take extra precautions."

The crash was reported at 3:35 p.m. Sunday about a mile southwest of Corona Municipal Airport and involved a two-seat Cessna 150 and a four-seat Cessna 172, authorities said.

Scott Gayle Lawrence, 55, of Cerritos; Paul Luther Carlson, 73, of Cerritos; Anthony Joel Guzman, 20, of Hesperia; and Brandon William Johnson, 24, of Costa Mesa, were killed on the planes, coroner's officials said. Two of the victims were in one plane and two in the other.

Killed on the ground was Earl Smiddy, 58, of Moreno Valley, coroner's officials said. He was at Corona Chevrolet, 2550 Wardlow Road, when he was fatally struck by airplane debris that came through the roof of the building, authorities said.

One of the planes was headed east and the other north when the planes collided.

There is no control tower at the airport, meaning pilots must watch out for other planes, and four fatal plane crashes have occurred near the airport over the past decade. Pilots said the skies over the Inland Empire are often crowded on weekends with pleasure fliers and student pilots.

Corona Mayor Jim Miller announced plans yesterday to create an air- safety task force in response to Sunday's tragedy.

"We still don't know if this accident was related to our airport, but we want the pilots, the FAA and the local businesses to have a chance to work together and discuss their concerns through the task force," Miller said in remarks reported by The Press-Enterprise.

He said he plans to seek Corona City Council approval for the air-traffic safety panel next month.

Pollack said most of the airplane debris has been collected and is being examined.

"Thus far, signatures of paint transfer of one (plane) onto another ... (is) consistent with an impact between the two aircraft," he said.

One plane hit the other about "mid-section of the fuselage," he said. "We have both wings separating from the 150 and both occupants ejected."

He said the bodies and main wreckage of the 150 were found "embedded into the car dealership." The mangled wreckage of the Cessna 172 was found a short distance away with two bodies still inside, he said, adding that components of each plane were "co-mingled" with the other.

Witnesses said the aircraft engines sounded normal and that neither pilot appeared to take any action to avoid a collision, he said. He also reported there was no immediate evidence that either of the planes ran out of gas or had an engine malfunction.

The 150 was registered with a flight school, but both men on board were certified pilots, he said.

In trying to reconstruct the actions of the pilots before the Cessnas crashed, authorities "have to rely on witness statements and the physical wreckage," said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.

"There are no flight recordings," he said. "Small planes like that don't have black boxes."

The NTSB is the lead investigating agency, and the FAA is assisting. FBI Evidence Response Team investigators and the Corona Fire Department also were at the scene, officials said.

The pilots of the two Cessnas had not filed flight plans, and neither was in radio contact with Corona Municipal Airport, Gregor said. But both pilots were licensed and had experience flying over Corona, the owner of one of the planes told The Times.

Carlson, a former Air Force Reserve helicopter pilot and retired aerospace engineer, had taken his neighbor Lawrence for a ride in his single-engine plane, The Times reported.

The other pilot, Guzman, was a student in the commercial pilot program at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut and was flying to build up his hours, according to The Times.

The Cessna 172 was owned by William A. Reinke of La Habra, who operates a flight school and rents out aircraft, and the Cessna 150 was registered to Air Corona Inc., based in Dover, Del., the newspaper reported.