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A parolee who stole a plane in Concord was killed when it crashed in Fresno. (Photo: Fresno Bee)

A 52-year-old Tracy man died in a plane crash on Sunday after he stole a Cessna 172 in Concord and slammed it into a canal bank in Fresno.

UPDATE | Feb. 13: Pilot was high on meth. Toxicology tests found that the man who stole and crashed the plane had enough methamphetamine in his blood to kill a nonuser. [Fresno Bee]

•   A parolee who was high on meth stole a plane in Concord and flew it to Fresno.

•   The plane severed power lines and then crashed into a canal bank.

•   The man who stole the plane died in the crash.

The plane went down at about 4 p.m., according to a report in the Fresno Bee. An unlicensed pilot, later identified as Ray Pirro, apparently stole the single-engine aircraft  from Buchanan Field Airport in Concord. It belonged to Felix J. Boston of Walnut Creek.

Pirro flew the plane toward Fresno, where it severed power lines before slamming into a canal bank alongside Barstow Avenue about a quarter-mile west of the city limits.

Pirro died in the crash. No one else was on the plane.

Department of Corrections records showed that Pirro had been on parole since 2008, according to a CBS Channel 47 News report. California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation spokesman Luis Patino told the Bee that Pirro had checked in with his parole officer three days before the crash, when he submitted to a drug test. Results of that test were not released.

After the crash, the plane’s owner drove down to Fresno to see the mangled aircraft, which he said he bought in 2006.

“I loved that plane,” Boston said. “I take a lot of charity flights over the Golden Gate Bridge.”

Boston said he auctioned off rides in the plane to raise money for scholarships and organizations that help the homeless. Now that his plane is totally wrecked, he won’t be able to do that anymore, he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.

This wasn’t the first time Pirro had crashed a plane. Even though he was not licensed to fly, Pirro once owned a single-engine Cessna 175. He crashed it near the Tracy airport in November 1988, NTSB records show.The accident report said Pirro’s plane ran out of fuel and nosedived near the airport. Pirro abandoned the plane. He was not injured in that crash.

Here is a video of the scene:

Fortunately, planes are rarely stolen, according to Bob Collins, president of the Aviation Crime Prevention Institute in Florida. Less than a dozen are reported stolen each year in the United States. But it’s fairly easy to get a stolen plane off the ground.

“You can take off into air space with no one interrupting you,” Collins said. “You don’t need permission to take off and don’t need permission to land.”

Fresno Plane Crash Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented aviation accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Off-road racer Rick Huseman and two others were killed in a small plane crash near Barstow. (Photo: Desert Dispatch)

Off-road racing champion Ruck Huseman was among three people killed Sunday in a small plane crash near Barstow. Huseman’s brother and a friend also died in the accident.

•   On Sunday — the same day that Indy 500 champ Dan Wheldon was killed in a 15-car pileup in Las Vegas — off-road champ Rick Huseman was killed when his plane crashed returning home from Las Vegas.

•   The pilot reported an emergency and tried to land the small Beech 33 Bonanza plane at an airport in Barstow, but it crashed about 5 miles away. 

•   Huseman, his brother, and the pilot died at the scene. 

The Beech 33 Bonanza airplane went down at about 1:45 p.m., according to an ABC News report.

Authorites said the 38-year-old racing champion was returning home to Riverside from the Monster Energy Cup in Las Vegas. His brother, 26-year-old Jeffrey Huseman, and their friend, 35-year-old Daniel Hicks were also on the plane, San Bernardino County Deputy Coroner Investigator Teri Lay said. All three men were Riverside residents.

It was not clear who was piloting the aircraft, Lay said, but a message from Toyota’s National Motorsports Manager Les Unger, posted on Huseman’s website, seemed to indicate thet Hicks was flying the plane:

“The entire Toyota Motorsports and TRD family wish to express our condolences to the family of Rick Huseman in view of Sunday’s tragic event that claimed the lives of Rick, his brother, and the plane’s pilot.”

The message went on to say, “Rick was an enthusiastic and extremely talented member of Toyota’s off-road racing program. He was a true champion both on and off the track.”

The plane had been flying from North Las Vegas to Corona, California, when the pilot declared an emergency, according to an Associated Press report. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the pilot was attempting to make an emergency landing at Barstow-Daggett Airport when the aircraft went down in unincorporated Newberry Springs, about 5 miles from the airport.

The California Highway Patrol received a call reporting the plane crash. About 45 minutes later, emergency crews found the wreckage of a small plane about a half- mile south of Lake Dolores. Kenitzer said the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Huseman’s death was a blow to the motor sports world, especially combined with the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon in a fiery 15-car pileup at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the same day.

Huseman racked up 44 victories in more than a decade of off-racing racing, according to his Toyota biography. He was awarded the prestegious 2010 Dirt Sports Magazine’s Driver of the Year.

Barstow Small Plane Crash Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented  plane crash victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126

Anaheim police officer Brian Hayes (left) and Simi Valley officer Nicole Anderson were killed in a Winslow plane crash. (Plane crash photo: Channel 3 News)

Two off-duty police officers from Southern California were killed Tuesday when their small plane crashed during takeoff in Winslow, Arizona.

•   Two California police officers — one from Anaheim and one from Simi Valley — were returning home from a family visit to Colorado when they had problems with their small plane in Winslow, Arizona.

•   The plane started rocking back and forth in the air shortly after takeoff, then flipped upside down and crashed onto the runway.

•   Both officers were killed on impact. No one else was on board.

The plane went down at the Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport 10:10 on Sunday, according to KTLA News.

The Mooney M20F aircraft landed upside down at the end of the runway, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials said.

The impact instantly killed 36-year-old Anaheim police officer Brian Hayes and his girlfriend, 32-year-old Simi Valley officer Nicole Anderson, according to a statement released by the Anaheim Police Department.

No one else was on board.

The couple was returning from visiting Anderson’s family in Colorado, family members said.

Authorities don’t know what caused the plane crash. The FAA is investigation the accident.

Witness Jim Weldon, a 73-year-old pilot who took photos of the crash, told the Arizona Republic the plane looked like a glider, rocking back and forth, before it flipped over and hit the runway.

FAA records show Hayes had been licensed as a private pilot since 2003. He had served the Anaheim Police Department since 1999. Anderson had served the Simi Valley Police Department since 2003.

Small Plane Crash Statistics

There were 1,435 small plane crashes nationwide in 2010, according to the latest National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) statistics. Almost 20 percent of those aviation accidents — 267 — were fatal, causing 450 deaths.

The number of crashes had decreased considerably since 2000, when there 1,837 crashes resulted in 596 fatalities. The accident and death rate has continually decreased every year.

California Plane Crash Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented plane crash victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.