2 Planes Collide Mid-Air In LA County: Authorities

LANCASTER, CA — Two planes collided in mid-air Sunday in the Lancaster area, leaving one pilot dead and the other uninjured, according to authorities.

The crash occurred at about 12:50 p.m., according to a watch commander at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Lancaster station. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the scene around 1 p.m., that agency said, adding the pilot who died was pronounced upon the fire department's arrival. There were no passengers on board either plane besides the pilot, according to the fire department.

The planes reached the ground in the areas of 47th Street East and Avenue F and 60th Street East and Avenue G, the fire department said.

The aircraft that collided included a Yakovlev Yak-52 and a Nanchang CJ-6A, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which will investigate the crash. The Yak-52 was described as a vintage Soviet-era aircraft and the CJ-6A a decades-old Chinese plane.

Witnesses or people with surveillance video or other information that could be relevant to the investigation are asked to email witness@ntsb.gov.

City News Service contributed to this story.