Authorities Identify the Victims in Plane Crash at Corona Airport
CORONA — The two occupants of a single-engine plane that crashed Wednesday on approach to Corona Municipal Airport, killing one of them, were identified Thursday.
Officials said Darrel Lee Rhodes, 40, of Yorba Linda died shortly after the plane crashed in a field in northwest Corona on Wednesday. Rhodes apparently owned the plane, but officials had not determined whether he was piloting it at the time of the crash.
Late Thursday the plane’s other occupant, Santa Ana resident Alfred Brambila, 30, was reported in critical condition at Riverside General Hospital.
The plane had broadcast on emergency channels that it was experiencing engine failure, Police Lt. Sam Spiegel said.
A witness said he saw the craft flying about 70 feet above the ground just before it crashed at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Rincon Street, Spiegel said.
Witnesses said they watched the plane, a Piper 32-3000, fly at low levels, then dip its left wing before flipping over onto its top.
Late Thursday, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Commission and Federal Aviation Administration were seeking the cause of the crash.
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