KTLA

Vintage plane crashes after takeoff from Chino Airport; 2 dead

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a vintage plane crashed shortly after taking off in Chino early Saturday afternoon, killing two people.

According to initial reports issued by the FAA, the twin-engine Lockheed 12A crashed just after departing from Chino Airport at 12:35 p.m.


There were two people onboard the aircraft, the FAA said. Preliminary information indicates they were both found dead at the scene.

Video taken shortly after the crash appears to show the World War II-era plane’s engine detached from the fuselage in a grassy field not far from the runway. According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the aircraft caught fire after it crash-landed just west of the airport.

It took firefighters just ten minutes to extinguish the flames, the Daily Bulletin added.

The victims’ identities have not yet been released, however a social media post indicates that one of them was a man named Frank Wright.

Shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday, the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office confirmed that Wright, a 67-year-old Riverside resident, was one of the deceased victims.