CORONA: Instructor and student pilots practicing stall recovery injured when plane crashes

CORONA — A flight instructor and student pilot sustained minor injuries after their small plane crashed while practicing stall recoveries, Saturday, Jan. 13. The plane went down in the hills behind the 26900 block of Filly Court, north of Bosley Lane and west of Horsethief Canyon Road, in the Alberhill area of Corona.

According to the FAA, new pilots seeking a private pilot’s license are taught stall recovery by experiencing it first hand with an instructor and stall recovery practice is routine for newer pilots – usually occurring over open, uninhabited areas.

Emergency first responders were dispatched to the scene of the minor-injury crash just after noon when the pilots declared an air emergency while trying to recover from one of the stalls.

When they arrived officials found the plane down in a field just west of a residential neighborhood and south of Horsetheif Canyon Park.

Medical personnel evaluated the instructor and student pilots and determined they sustained minor injuries in the crash. Both were treated at the scene and declined further treatment.

According to a CHP officer at the scene the plane had taken off from Chino Airport before flying to the Alberhill area to practice stall recovery over the large, open area.

As the small, four seat airplane was going down without power, it clipped a set of power lines over a residential neighborhood before crashing into the field.

The accident caused a power outage that affected several hundred area customers and was not expected to be fully restored until Sunday around 4 p.m.

The plane, a single-engine, 1966 Piper PA-28-140, which is owned by Dubois Aviation Inc, out of Chino, sustained minor damage in the crash and remained in the field, pending FAA officials who were summoned to the location to investigate the cause of the crash.

Riverside County Sheriff’s officials are at the scene awaiting the arrival of FAA.

Southern California Edison employees later responded to the location to assess and begin repairs to the damaged power lines.

Other than the two occupants from the plane, there were no reported injuries related to the crash, which is still under investigation.

Nathan Wilking/Rvcnews video

 

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Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.