Family of pilot, passenger in 405 freeway plane crash thank those who helped, said parents are recovering
The air-traffic controller hesitated. Then, he broke the news the
"I'm not sure how to properly say this," he's heard saying in a recording of the conversation. "Indefinite closure. Disabled aircraft in vicinity of the airport ...
"And not in a good way."
A small aircraft lost its right engine. The pilot apparently tried to gain altitude and make it back to
Their plane grazed several cars while somehow injuring no motorists.
Joanna and
"We would like to thank the off-duty first responders and nurses who stopped to rescue our parents," they said in a statement released Monday evening through
The family also thanked the "police officers, paramedics, EMTs and civilians, as well as the doctors and nurses at
They remain in the hospital in stable condition.
Answers to questions about how the plane malfunctioned and why it was unable to make it back to the airport -- to say nothing of how the aircraft, in the words of multiple officials, "miraculously" avoided killing anyone on one of the busiest freeways in America -- are likely months away.
"We try to find out what happened when things go wrong," said
What follows is a sketch of what is known about the crash and what preceded it -- culled from agency documents and officials -- and what investigators will try to shed light on in their reviews.
"They're trying to piece together the puzzle," Weiss said.
Francis, 62, and
That limited-liability corporation, which has been registered with the
The company shares an address with
The
It is unknown where the couple was headed, but shortly after taking off from
"We got a mayday!" a voice identified as Pisano's says to the air-traffic controller in a recording from the tower. "We got a mayday!"
"Your landing gear appears to be up," a male voice replied from the tower.
"I know," the pilot said. "We're still trying to get a little altitude. ... I just lost my right engine."
"These engines are bulletproof," he said. "They go for 2,000 hours between overhauls. And very rarely do they fail. Catastrophic failures just don't happen that often."
But when they do happen, he said, the worst-case scenario is for it to happen right after takeoff -- the planes can't coast to a slow descent like they can if they are higher up.
"It is the most critical time, takeoff on a twin-engine plane," Blackstone said.
As the plane lost altitude, Pisano received an all-clear signal from the control tower to land back at John Wayne,
"It's strictly up to the pilot," he said of deciding where to try to land. "The pilot in command has the ultimate decision-making authority."
It's possible, said
"However," she said, "in instances of serious mechanical failure, getting there's not possible."
Instead, the Cessna crashed onto the freeway and skidded to a stop next to a concrete divider, just before the
"It's pretty miraculous,"
Prior to the crash, traffic on the 405 was typical for a Friday morning, Hart said.
About 8,400 vehicles traveled past MacArthur on the southbound 405 toward
"That's still a high volume," Hart said.
The freeway's southbound lanes were closed for some seven hours Friday for the investigation.
The plane was then taken to a
Agents will look for signs of malfunction; some parts will be sent to a lab for further analysis, Weiss said.
A preliminary report is expected within the next two weeks.
The final conclusion, open to the public, could be months away.
The
"It's handled much in the same way as any other collision report," CHP spokesman
Though the investigation is not yet completed, Fox said officers don't suspect impairment on the part of the pilot.
And in the end, observers noted, Pisano was able to get the plane down -- with few people injured.
"They managed to survive it and nobody else got hurt," Blackstone said. "He didn't want to hurt anybody, obviously."
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