Hemet Plane Crash Pilot Remains In Critical Condition

HEMET, CA — The pilot of a single-engine airplane that crashed and burned behind a Hemet home was in critical condition Wednesday, while federal investigators probed into what might have caused the accident.

The victim, whose identity has not been released, suffered extensive burn and other injuries when the low-wing aircraft went down at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Mustang Way and Warren Road.

According to the Hemet Police Department, the man is undergoing treatment at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. No other information was available Wednesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board has initiated an investigation into what occurred, and a preliminary report on the crash is expected in the next seven days.

Witnesses told police and media outlets that the airplane was flying the traffic pattern at Hemet-Ryan Airport when it went down. The new housing tract where the crash happened is about a half-mile southwest of the airport perimeter.

"When we looked up, it looked to us like the plane had just left (the airport), heading west, and then it made a hard turn heading south, and then it started getting lower and lower," Michael Deardorff of Hemet told City News Service on Tuesday. "All of a sudden, it started getting almost to the ground. And then all of a sudden, it was just an explosion and flames galore."

The aircraft slammed into a retaining wall to the rear of a single-story house, bursting into flames that quickly spread because of the avgas loaded in the wings.

Hemet Fire Department and Riverside County Fire Department crews reached the location within a few minutes and found the homeowner using a garden hose in an attempt to prevent the flames from extending to his residence, according to officials.

The airman was pulled from the burning wreckage by firefighters.

"The fire was quickly extinguished by the fire crews," police spokesman Alan Reyes said.

Hemet-Ryan Airport, which is county-owned, is a designated Cal Fire air attack base, and a crew operates out of the location year-round. It is also a popular recreational aerodrome, with general aviation enthusiasts in and out of the location daily. Glider activity is also a feature of the airport.

Tuesday's plane crash came a day before one reported Wednesday afternoon in Imperial County Read more here.

Tuesday's crash also occurred a day shy of the three-year anniversary of a deadly accident involving a 74-year-old real estate attorney, Loren Vernon Gallagher, who was killed during a test flight in his twin-engine AirCam during takeoff from Hemet-Ryan Airport.

On the morning of June 8, 2019, Gallagher was departing in the newly assembled homebuilt plane when the left wing folded, causing the twin to roll inverted from about 20 feet up, crashing onto its back.

There was no protective canopy, and Gallagher suffered a massive head injury. He died less than a half-hour later at Hemet Valley Hospital.

According to the NTSB's final report on that accident, published in May 2021, the left wing strut had not been securely bolted to the fuselage, allowing the wing to become dislodged when pressure was applied to it at takeoff speed.

The reasons for the fatal maintenance oversight, which was missed during inspections and taxi tests, remain a mystery.