“Several witnesses said that after the maneuver, the airplane `wobbled from side to side’ before the canopy separated,” the agency stated. However, the narrative indicated Vopat had performed a “barrel roll.” Nothing conclusive was provided in the report. NTSB investigators reached the crash site the following day, and a preliminary report summarizing events followed 10 days later. “If it were not for the heroics of these two individuals, CRC would have lost numerous lives,” she said. They burn pretty quickly.”ĬRC Warden Cynthia Tampkins credited both Dickson and Vopat with actions intended for the preservation of life. Those dorms are World War II-era structures. “If the pilot would have hit 25 feet in any direction, the impact would have probably killed people, and then the burning fuel would have killed more. “The plane went down, literally, right beside a dorm,” Morales said. The consensus among the witnesses was that Vopat had desperately fought to keep the plane from going into the fully occupied structures within the prison perimeter. Morales said one of the men who dove for cover inside the box suffered superficial cuts, but was otherwise fine. Several Riverside County Fire Department engine crews reached the scene five minutes later and assisted with containment. “They had to let the fire burn itself out.” Throwing water on that makes it worse,” CDCR Lt. “The remains were composed of (wood) and magnesium. There were none.Ī prison fire crew comprised of inmate-trustees reached the location two minutes later and contained but did not immediately knock down the flames. The officer said he checked for signs of life in the remnants of the destroyed N9M. Fearing the flames would enter the enclosure, he again led the men out of harm’s way, jumping over the flaming debris to open space. Thankfully, no one was hit.”Īccording to Dickson, a “wall of flame” faced the men as they emerged from the box. “I didn’t see it, but I felt it, and there was large fiery debris going through the air. “Two to three seconds later, there was an impact,” the officer said. One of the engines was turning on and off, and the other was humming along nicely.”ĭickson estimated that the single-seat twin-engine plane, with both propellers mounted behind the cockpit, was 150 feet above the prison when “the pilot kind of did a loopy, flip-flop maneuver,” possibly trying to regain control of the ill-fated N9M. “I heard the airplane, and the sound caught my attention, so I looked up,” California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation Officer Robert Dickson told City News Service. The National Transportation & Safety Board has not released its conclusions about what might have brought down the historic aircraft, but eyewitness accounts may provide insights. The Northrop N9M flying wing was on a post-maintenance flight and had just departed Chino Municipal Airport, piloted by 51-year-old David Michael Vopat of Chino, when it crashed within the fenced grounds of the California Rehabilitation Center on Fifth Street, just west of Interstate 15, on the afternoon of April 22, 2019. If you’ve been hurt or lost a loved one due to someone’s negligence, call us today for the next steps.RIVERSIDE - An airplane that was the last of its kind went down a year ago Wednesday, taking the life of the pilot and nearly injuring inmates and staff at a Norco prison, under circumstances that federal aviation investigators are continuing to probe. We bring more than four decades of experience to undertake a gamut of cases involving reckless parties. Our firm settles cases involving wrongful death, personal injury, car accidents and disability law. To schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with the Sweet Law Group, call (800) 674 7852. To those mourning this unfair and heartbreaking loss, we’d like to express our condolences to you and hope you find comfort and peace. Inferring from television footage, debris littered the scene leaving devastation of what was the last remaining of four flying models engineered in the 1940s.Īt this time, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board plans to investigate this deadly crash. Nobody on the ground suffered any injuries but one inmate did sustain scratches, per the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The pilot appeared to be the only occupant on board the single-seat plane. Reports did not specify whether the pilot died, but the crash was fatal.Īccording to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer, the Northrop N-9M crashed under mysterious circumstances. NORCO, CA (April 24, 2019) – A plane crash at the California Rehabilitation Center on Fifth Street near Norco Drive turned fatal Monday. Fatal Plane Crash at State Prison on Fifth Street Near Norco Drive One Dead in Norco Plane Accident
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