The State - News from Feb. 24, 1988

A 36-year-old Marina del Rey man with only one hour’s flying time was killed when the ultralight aircraft he was piloting plunged 200 feet and crashed as he was practicing takeoffs and landings at Camarillo Airport, officials said. Ventura County Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Gockel said the pilot, Joseph Byron, “apparently began having trouble controlling the aircraft’s throttle and ultimately lost control of it, resulting in a near vertical spiral dive into the ground.” The pilot’s flight instructor said the man had been a student pilot for about three weeks and had logged one hour of flying time. A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman described the aircraft as “a hang glider with a motor on it. It seats one person, weighs less than 255 pounds, travels not more than 63 m.p.h. and carries five or less gallons of gas.” As a result, she said, ultralights do not have to be registered with the FAA and people do not have to hold pilot’s licenses to fly them.