Coroner’s officials have released the identity of a 40-year-old flight student who died in a fiery crash between two airplanes on the tarmac of Compton-Woodley Airport earlier this month.
Lukas Michael Swidinski of Long Beach was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which took place about 7 p.m. on March 13, Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner Lt. Nani Cholakians said. Identification was delayed as coroner’s officials sought relatives of the victim.
He was in a single-engine Cessna 152 airplane sitting on a runway after landing when another single-engine plane, a North American T-28, approached from behind and landed on top of it, according to witnesses.
Swidinski was killed in the crash, while the flight instructor in the Cessna was hospitalized in critical condition.
The pilot and solo occupant of the T-28 was not hurt in the crash, officials said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.