A Father's Day event turned deadly when a plane crash killed two pilots. They were flying a WWII-era plane for the event when it crashed at a California airport. Both pilots sadly died on impact.
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Officials confirmed that both 67-year-old Frank Wright and his co-pilot perished in the crash. Wright was the chief of operations at the Yanks Air Museum. The two had been flying the twin-engine Lockheed 12A plane, a WWII-era plane on Saturday afternoon. The plane then fell from the sky and went up in a ball of flames at the Chino Airport, according to ABC 7.
One witness recalled the carnage when the plane hit the ground. The witness said the fuel from the plane caused an immediate explosion. "Took a nose dive, and the first part of the plane that hit was the left wing, and that's where the fuel was, I guess, and what happened was immediate explosion," a witness to the crash told the outlet.
Meanwhile, The Chino Valley Fire District confirmed Wright was flying the plane. So far, they haven't revealed the identity of his co-pilot. What exactly happened that caused the WWII-era plane to crash remains a mystery at this time. However, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash and will post their findings.
WWII Era Plane Crashes
As part of the investigation, Yanks Air Museum officials said they are cooperating with officials. As of now, they have closed their business until further notice. Wright was on the Yanks Air Museum's flight team, so the team is taking his lost personal.
"Yanks Air Museum will be closed until further notice as our family deals with this tragedy, and we appreciate your patience and respect for our privacy as we navigate through this difficult time," officials said in a statement.
One member of the flight crew remembered Wright on social media. They said that he was an expert in his field.
"I only [k]new Frank Wright for the last 10 years but he always had time to sit down and talk planes and flying with me and if I ever had a mechanical question on how to solve a DC-3 issue he would always help," Gary Stark wrote on Facebook. "He will be missed tremendously in the warbirds community." The news comes amid concerns with the airplane industry.
