Last Updated on October 1, 2018 by CCAR Staff
Authorities identified the man who died on Sunday, Sept. 30 after his plane crash-landed into a nursery at Brackett Field Airport, sending one other person to the hospital.
Frank Eldridge Owens, 69, was pronounced dead after a Cessna 177RG went down in a private nursery on airport property sometime before 5:50 p.m., according to Sarah Ardalani, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office. Federal Aviation Administration records name him as the owner of the single engine plane, which was registered to an address in Los Angeles.
PRESS RELEASE regarding Brackett Field Airport.#lavernepd #lavernepolicedepartment #lvpd #SafetyCommunityService #thinblueline #police pic.twitter.com/2eiVoqCPqb
— La Verne Police Dept (@LaVernePD) October 1, 2018
It is unclear if Owens was piloting the aircraft during the crash, which injured one other occupant of the plane, according to La Verne Police Lt. Chris Dransfeldt. He said a woman who was sent to the hospital following the incident had not yet been discharged by Monday evening. Information regarding the severity of her injuries or her identity was not immediately available from authorities.
The plane’s pilot had been practicing approaches into the airport before going down on Sunday, according to Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the FAA. Investigators have yet to announce what might have caused that crash.
Less than 24 hours after Sunday’s fatal incident, a second single-engine plane crash-landed into the same nursery at about 11:50 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 1. In that collision, the pilot of a Beechcraft V35 Bonanza died at the scene. Witnesses to the event reported hearing a whirring noise and said the plane was not flying level before it hit the ground.
Eyewitness Francisco Juarez describes La Verne plane crash just west of Brackett Field Monday. There are unconfirmed reports of at least one fatality pic.twitter.com/3bFtHJMwas
— Will Lester (@WillLesterPhoto) October 1, 2018
Dransfeldt said the FAA and NTSB are investigating both deadly crashes.
