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Plane makes crash landing in Camarillo
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The pilot of a single-engine aircraft walked away unscathed after his aircraft flipped over during an emergency landing Thursday in a Camarillo industrial park.
It was the third mishap involving a small airplane in Ventura County in the last eight days.
Matheus Broglio, 28, told authorities his Piper PA-18 was towing an advertising banner when it abruptly lost power at about 2,000-feet altitude.
The Brazilian-born pilot jettisoned the banner before setting the aircraft down in a field next to Highway 101 south of Adolfo Road. The plane flipped over after it hit a mound of dirt while landing, ending upside down, said Bill Nash, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. Nash said the banner ended up in the industrial park.
Fortunately, the aircraft did not catch fire, Nash said, pointing to the dry grass where the airplane had landed.
Federal Aviation Administration records show the blue-and-white aircraft was registered to Van Wagner Aerial Media, based in Hollywood, Fla. The company operates "the largest aerial advertising business in the United States," according to its Web site.
Authorities were notified of the crash landing at 2:44 p.m., Nash said. No one was hurt in the mishap, which remained under investigation Thursday.
The incident came less than 24 hours after a Cessna 172 flipped over while making an emergency landing Wednesday between Thousand Oaks and Moorpark.
The pilot told authorities the aircraft had developed mechanical problems.
The plane landed on a slope and also flipped over. The pilot and a male passenger were treated at Simi Valley Hospital for some bruises, authorities said.
Russell Watts, 55, of Pacoima was killed after the Cessna 152 he was piloting slammed into a citrus orchard on July 2 southeast of Fillmore. The plane, which went down near Guiberson Road and the Santa Clara River, exploded into a ball of fire after it hit the ground.
Posted by latina79 on July 10, 2008 at 3:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I work out here in Camarillo and noticed helicopters flying around. Thought I'd see if there was any news of it and behold the Star is on top of it :) Happy nobody was injured.
Posted by Relvd98 on July 10, 2008 at 3:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What is it with planes going down lately?
Posted by mauid2005 on July 10, 2008 at 3:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I work on Verdugo and could feel the building shake from the helicopters.
Sure hope no one was badly injured.
Posted by onapproach on July 10, 2008 at 3:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That's not much information.
Posted by jbelkin on July 10, 2008 at 4 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Just went to look at the plane. it's upside down in the field right next to the freeway. Not something you see everyday. Glad no one was hurt.
Posted by BigJake on July 10, 2008 at 4:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"What is it with planes going down lately?"
Well, you see there are these invisible holes in the sky over Ventura County. In those holes there is no lift, so the a/c falls from the sky for lack of lift. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Posted by omie on July 10, 2008 at 4:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Go to abc7.com they have a picture of the plane upside down. its one of those piper cubs that they use to tow the advertisement banners with. Glad the pilot isn't hurt to bad, lucky the plane did not burn either. Sukks for people on the North bound though.
Posted by slkrchck on July 10, 2008 at 4:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
geee
i almost didn't click in 'cause i thought it was the moorpark story.
Posted by onapproach on July 10, 2008 at 4:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why go to abc7.com? There's a picture of the aircraft right in the Star article.
Posted by omie on July 10, 2008 at 4:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Go to abc7.com they have a picture of the plane upside down.
Posted by bobsmith123 on July 10, 2008 at 5:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I heard the tail number is N7471D (by looking at the abc7.com website and the November lookup tool). I also heard that he never filed a flight plan and checked local weather conditions. (Probably not required, but why would you not take advantage of a free service that provides these?)
Posted by calipilot99 on July 10, 2008 at 6:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Bob,
There is no requirement for any pilot to file a flight plan when flying under visual flight rules. As far as checking the weather that can be done online without calling any weather briefer and all pilots have knowledge of weather. It is not a requirement when flying in the vicinity of an airport. Weather is not the issue in this, what is the issue is what caused the engine to fail, lack of fuel in the tanks or some other failure to a component of the engine. There is no lack of lift in ventura county and a basic understanding of aerodynamics will tell you that lift has everything to do with the aircraft and not the weather.
Posted by jbh50 on July 10, 2008 at 7:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ok the plane fell out of the sky and the pilot was okay. Enough already. My commute from Westlake Blvd to Wendy took 35 minutes! Geez. Why all the rubbernecking? Its a plane in a field by the freeway. Move on!
Posted by BigJake on July 10, 2008 at 7:50 p.m.
(This thread was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by Old_Fart on July 10, 2008 at 8:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"What is it with planes going down lately?"
Gravity...
Posted by BigJake on July 10, 2008 at 8:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oldie - Your answer is even better than mine! Gravity will get ya everytime!
Posted by Old_Fart on July 10, 2008 at 9:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, gravity isn't good for planes or my waistline.
Just glad to hear everyone was okay, traffic was a mess.
Posted by ebrockway on July 10, 2008 at 10:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
CatInAHat;
Hey, no kidding, I've had to haul a load of postholes before, and if they're near as heavy as them lift holes where they hang the skyhooks for the planes I'd hate to be coming down the grade with a load of them!
Posted by BigJake on July 11, 2008 at 1:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Heck, I lost my brakes hauling a set of doubles full of post holes, lift holes and feathers down the grade. My passenger was a well known Ventura lawyer. We came flying down the grade, no brakes with that load of post holes, lift holes and feathers, a white knuckle trip if ever there was one.
The attorney called out, "My god, we're on a wing and a prayer!" I told him to never call me god while I was working and that the prayer might work, but that the wing was no good since all the feathers were on the second trailer. Well, at the bottom of the grade, scared but alive, the attorney swore that he would never be out of feathers again.
From then on, he was known as . . . . . drum roll . . . . . a "feather merchant!" And that is the story of how a load of post holes, lift holes and feathers helped to brand attorneys as "feather merchants." That is my story, and I’m stickin’ to it!
Posted by omie on July 11, 2008 at 7:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
hey onapproach at the time I was reading site the "VC star" had nothing but a headline, where as other larger news sources had pictures.
Posted by ebrockway on July 11, 2008 at 9:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
CatInAHat;
You hauling them heavy loads down the grade, should always use Jake breaks. I have Jake's number if you ever need it. At least the muffler bearings won't burn up coming down the hill that way.
Safety first!
Posted by SpiderWoman on July 11, 2008 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Good thing the aircraft was a Piper, a very forgiving plane. Had it been another kind of plane the outcome of this crash could have been a lot worse.
Posted by BabyzDaddy_01 on July 11, 2008 at 11:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"What is it with planes going down lately?"
I guess airplane pilots must be riding on "Empty" too huh? Darn Dubya and his high fuel prices!!!!
Posted by BigJake on July 11, 2008 at 11:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I called ole Jake, first the call did not go through, and then I only hit on 2-cylinders.
Posted by FedUp on July 11, 2008 at 12:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Fortunately, the aircraft did not catch fire, Nash said, pointing to the dry grass where the airplane had landed."
I am pretty sure Matheus was more excited about the fact that HE did NOT catch on fire as well.
Posted by Sheriberibebop on July 11, 2008 at 12:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My son saw this from the freeway yesterday on hsi way to Casistas and was glad to see that no one was hurt. He thought it was pretty cool to see a plane UPSIDE down though !!
Posted by sparks240 on July 11, 2008 at 5:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
They called it a crash landing. Don't most airplane crashes result in a landing of some sort?
Posted by NothingButTheTruth on July 11, 2008 at 7:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
MOST of the time when these small planes crash and there is NO FIRE, it is because the RAN OUT OF GAS!! With the price of fuel, probably too many pilots are not carrying enough, hence, more crashes w/o fires.
Posted by BigJake on July 11, 2008 at 8:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, there you go, the high price of fuel has a good side effect, fewer crash scene fires!
Posted by calipilot99 on July 11, 2008 at 8:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There have been some recent crashes of large aircraft such as a Boeing 747 and an Air Force C-5 that were full of 1000's of gallons of fuel where the aircraft broke apart during the crash and there was no fire. Give it a few days and you can check the NTSB website for a preliminary report and it might mention if there was any fuel found in the tanks or on the ground since it flipped over and might have leaked out of the tanks. Otherwise you all might as well end your speculation until the final report is issued by the NTSB.
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