Felix Boston watched a crew haul his plane away Monday morning, at least what's left of it. He claims someone stole it from the Buchanan Airfield in Concord.
"I parked the plane after we did a manual last Friday at one o'clock then went to go fly it at 11 o'clock Saturday and there was no airplane," Boston said.
Boston didn't report the plane missing. He thought one of his friends borrowed it. The NTSB called him Sunday afternoon with the bad news. It crashed in a field near Barstow and Garfield just west of Fresno.
The Pilot didn't survive. He has not been identified but the coroner says he was a parolee.
"They said he had prison tattoos all over him and he's on parole but they couldn't find a pilot's certificate for him....through the records so maybe he was out joy riding, who knows," Boston said.
Jesse Fox saw the plane go down Sunday. He ran over to help and dialed 9-1-1. He said it looked like the pilot was having trouble before it crashed.
"I didn't notice it until I hear pfft pfft, it was kinda sputtering and as it hit the lines I knew it was having problems." Fox added, "Once it hit the lines, they all snapped and went all over the place into the canal,"
Tom Macedo Lives in a neighborhood across the street. His home lost power briefly after the crash. He wasn't surprised when he found out what happened.
"I see enough low flying aircraft out here, if someone doesn't know what they're doing you're asking for trouble."
It could take several weeks for the NTSB to figure out why the plane crashed. The pilot didn't leave too many clues behind as to where he was going.
Boston said he found a hundred dollars worth of cheeze whiz and energy drinks in the wreckage. He also said there was still some fuel left in the plane.
"For six years that's been my baby I mean...you coddle it, you wash it, you put new leather interior in it. It's just so sad to see somebody steal it and crash it like this," Boston said.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 7582D Make/Model: C172 Description: 172, P172, R172, Skyhawk, Hawk XP, Cutla
Date: 02/06/2012 Time: 0006
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: FRESNO State: CA Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT STRUCK POWERLINES AND CRASHED INTO A FIELD, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD
WAS FATALLY INJURED, 12 MILES FROM FRESNO, CA
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: FRESNO, CA (WP17) Entry date: 02/06/2012
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