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From: Ralph Love <ralphlove@stanfordalumni.org>
Subject: Lancair Legacy Down

Saw this in the morning paper. Sad.

It only occurred 45 minutes from where I live in Carmel,  CA

Ralph Love
N122PT
Lancair Legacy
------------------
Atherton attorney killed in Watsonville plane crash

By J.M. Brown
jbrown@santacruzsentinel.com
Posted: 11/21/2009 03:04:35 PM PST
Updated: 11/21/2009 10:12:00 PM PST

WATSONVILLE - An Atherton attorney died Saturday after his single- 
engine plane crashed into an apple orchard off Freedom Boulevard near  
Corralitos Creek.

The plane was on approach to Watsonville Municipal Airport at 5,000  
feet when the pilot declared an emergency at 1:25 p.m., stating his  
engine was on fire, authorities said. The pilot told air traffic  
controllers in Oakland he would try to land at the Watsonville  
airport, but that was his final transmission.

Authorities, who initially described the plane as experimental,  
declined to identify the pilot, who was believed to be the only  
person on board. But David Lampert said his brother Gary Lampert, 58,  
an attorney from Atherton, perished in the crash.

Lampert said Santa Cruz County coroner's officials confirmed the  
death over the phone by checking identifying information found in his  
brother's wallet.

"We're all gathering here trying to comfort each other," Lampert said  
in a phone interview from his parents' home in San Mateo County.

Lampert said his brother is also survived by a 19-year-old son.

Lampert said his brother's plane, which contained a Continental  
engine, was not really an experimental aircraft. His brother simply  
had the fixed-wing single-engine plane assembled in 2003 by someone  
other than the parts maker.

The plane was registered to a home Gary Lampert owned on the southern  
shore of Lake Tahoe. The crash was especially shocking for the family
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because the pilot had been flying for 20 years.

"He was an instrument pilot with thousands of hours, and in  
helicopters as well," David Lampert said.

The brother said he heard about the crash on the radio about 3:30  
p.m., and based on the description of the plane, wondered if it might  
be his brother who went down.

"I had been trying to reach him all day," he said. "I couldn't  
believe it could be him."

The pilot was returning from a trip to Arizona to visit an uncle,  
David Lampert said. The family had expected him to return to the Bay  
Area Saturday night.

After the pilot's distress call Saturday, Watsonville airport closed  
to all other traffic, expecting to receive the hobbled aircraft.  
Simultaneously, Cal Fire positioned crews at the airport and sent a  
helicopter up to look for the plane, Sheriff's Sgt. Fred Plageman said.

"Unfortunately, he never made it," Plageman said.

At 1:40 p.m., a resident on the 500 block of Monte Sereno Road in the  
Santa Cruz Mountains called dispatchers to report a plane was smoking  
and going down.

Mark Pista, who owns the 100-acre property at 2276 Freedom Boulevard,  
was outside reading when he heard a loud crash on the far end of the  
orchard. He assumed there had been a car accident until his cousin,  
who lives on the other side of the property, called to say he  
believed a plane was down.

Pista and his wife, Carol, walked out into the orchard, calling 911  
from their cell phones. Minutes later, they found the crash site  
about 50 yards from Corralitos Creek. After seeing the pilot's shoes,  
the two called out to the man, but there was no answer - only the  
sound of sirens approaching.

"It was so sad to go down there and see someone," Carol Pista said.  
"I felt so awful. It's just so tragic."

The couple said the plane landed on a trellis surrounding a grove of  
young apple trees. They said it looked like the plane clipped another  
tree before hitting the ground. They said there was no easily visible  
sign of fire damage.

"The ground doesn't look that scored (but) the plane is just  
completely destroyed," Mark Pista, a former Navy pilot, said in  
astonishment. "I swear to God there was nothing left of it."

"To look at that plane as destroyed as it was, it looks like it  
should have tumbled 100 yards," Pista continued. "The trellis stopped  
him from going further."

Plageman said the county coroner will join an investigation to be led  
by the FAA and National Transportation and Safety Board. None of the  
authorities said an exact cause could be determined immediately.

"I'm certain the pilot took responsible measures to ditch in a non- 
populated area," Plageman said. "It's a really unfortunate set of  
events. We were hoping he ditched or survived."