1 Dies, 1 Hurt as Plane Crashes Into Auto Wrecking Yard

A light airplane crashed into an automobile wrecking yard Saturday morning and burst into flames, killing a passenger and burning the pilot, witnesses and authorities said.

Nobody on the ground was hurt when the plane smashed into Hai’s Auto Wrecking about 10:50 a.m., said city Fire Capt. Kenneth Wall.

The fire was doused in about two hours. The body of the passenger remained in the wreckage. An enormous section of twisted wing lay in the mud nearby.

The deceased man’s identity was not immediately released.

Witnesses said the plane lost power and plummeted.

“He tried to turn and turn, but the motor just stopped,” said Hector Marcial Ramirez, 35, a tow-truck driver for nearby Turbo Auto Wrecking.

Witnesses pulled the pilot from the burning aircraft.

“He kept saying, ‘My student Marvin is in the plane,’ ” said Valentine Stewart, who was browsing for auto parts when he heard the plane’s engine die and saw the craft spiral down.

The pilot was airlifted to UC San Diego Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition Saturday afternoon, a nursing supervisor said. Officials at the hospital identified him as Dale Kome and said he was burned over 40% of his body.

Stewart said the plane appeared to be a single-engine Cessna, but authorities could not immediately confirm that.

Stewart and another witness, Monty Bevers, said the pilot was burned over much of his body when they dragged him from the wreckage. “His midsection was the only thing that wasn’t burned,” Bevers said.