BUENA PARK : Weather Discounted as Cause of Crash

Weather does not appear to be a factor in last week’s airplane crash near the California-Arizona border that killed four local Kiwanians, but federal aviation officials are still looking at all possible causes, the chief investigator said Monday.

“It was a normal, clear day . . . and the visibility was excellent,” said Wayne Pollack, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board’s southwest regional office in Lawndale.

Killed in the Thursday morning crash of the Beechcraft Bonanza were the pilot, Rick Fosnight, 47, of Newport Beach, who owned two local McDonald’s franchises; Marcel LaFont, 86, a retired optometrist from Buena Park; Gerald Laub, 53, a semi-retired businessman who lived in Big Bear and owned several bars in Buena Park and North County; and Joe Maertz, 68, of Buena Park, who owned a locksmith shop.

The four men were returning to Fullerton Municipal Airport after several meetings with fellow Kiwanis Club members in Parker, Ariz.

Pollack, commenting for the first time since the crash, returned to the Southland this weekend after several days of inspections at the crash site near Parker on the Colorado River. The wreckage has been moved to a secured lot in Long Beach.

The NTSB focuses on three areas to determine the cause of a crash--the weather, the pilot, and the plane, according to investigators.

Pollack said that the Beechcraft Bonanza was fueled at the time of the 10:45 a.m. accident and that Fosnight was certified to fly it. He declined to comment further on possible causes.