Two well-respected pilots from the Redding area were killed instantly Saturday when their single-engine aircraft crashed on takeoff at the Susanville Municipal Airport.
The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a 911 call of a plane crash at the Susanville airport shortly before 1:00p.m., and LCSO deputies, Susanville Police officers, Susan River Fire, CCC/HDSP Fire and medical units all responded to the scene to find a small, Piper PA 14 airplane with severe damage in a dirt patch between two paved runways.
The airplane’s two occupants, identified as 45-year old Kevin Fore and 35-year old Krista Holstrom, were both pronounced deceased on scene.
According to LCSO Lt. Dave Woginrich a witness to the crash stated the plane took off from a dirt runway and was approximately 400 to 500 feet in the air when it took a sharp left-turn and crashed into the ground.
Authorities from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Avionics Administration were contacted and later arrived on scene to conduct their preliminary investigation.
Lt. Woginrich and the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office expressed their sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the deceased.
