| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Glider pilot killed in Angeles National Forest
Friday June 20, 2003PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) A glider who was among dozens of others who were part of cross-country journey commemorating the centennial of the Wright brothers' first flight was killed Thursday when he crashed in the Angeles National Forest.
Authorities said the crash occurred about 5:45 p.m., about four miles southeast of the Crystaliare Airport in Llano, 20 miles east of Palmdale. The gliders took off about noon from the airport and landed hours later in Jean, Nev., said Dale Masters, a flight instructor with the Great Western Soaring School, which hosted the takeoff.
Masters said the dead pilot was Eugene Carapetyan, 61, who lived in the Los Angeles area.
``He was a very experienced pilot,'' Masters said.
Carapetyan and about 50 other pilots from around the world were taking part in ``Return to Kittyhawk,'' a transcontinental celebration in honor of the Wright brothers' first flight in December 1903 at Kittyhawk, N.C. The pilots are making 10 stops across the nation before they plan to arrive in Kittyhawk on the Fourth of July.
Apparently, no one knew Carapetyan had gone missing until the pilots landed at the Nevada location.
``They tried to reach him by radio but couldn't contact him,'' Masters said. ``No one had noticed he wasn't there.''
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.
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