Pilot Dies in Buena Park Crash : Near Miss in Fog at Wax Museum

The pilot of a small plane died this morning when his aircraft struck a power line while attempting to land in dense fog and crashed into the empty parking lot of the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, authorities said.

The pilot, whose name was being withheld until relatives could be notified, was the only occupant of the four-seat Cessna 172 Skyhawk II, said Fire Chief Sam Winner. He crashed about three miles from the Fullerton Municipal Airport, where he had been cleared for landing.

The crash occurred about 6.45 a.m., as museum employees were arriving for work.

“I heard, ‘Boom! Boom!,’ and the entire building shook,” said Jeff Johnson, the museum’s lighting manager. “I thought it was an earthquake, because when I ran outside, debris was falling from the (electrical) tower.”

Johnson said he ran back into the museum but returned to the parking lot about four minutes later to survey the damage.

“The tower was swaying,” Johnson said. “And in the end of the parking lot, I saw a big ball of flame. I thought it was a truck on fire, but I couldn’t see well because of the fog. So I got a little closer, about 10 feet, and I said, ‘Wait, this is a plane.’ ”

Johnson ran back inside and called police.

The impact of the crash frayed several of the power lines before the plane fell into the southwest corner of the parking lot. The burning plane missed a tract of homes about 10 yards behind the parking lot.

William Pollack, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said that the aircraft was originally scheduled to land at John Wayne Airport but that dense fog forced the pilot to abort the landing.

“He made a low pass over the field (at John Wayne) and decided against it,” Pollack said.

The pilot apparently was given clearance to land at the Fullerton Airport where visibility was near zero, Pollack said. But the aircraft later disappeared from the radarscope.

“The next thing we heard is that we had a call from the Buena Park Fire Department about a plane crash in the Movieland Wax Museum’s parking lot,” Pollack said.

Fullerton airport director Roland Elder said the pilot received FAA clearance to be on an instrument approach to the airport. “Normally, he should have been about 1,100 feet high,” Elder said. “Something would have had to happen up there before he dropped and hit the power lines.”

Witnesses said the firefighters quickly contained the blaze, but authorities said initial investigations suggested that the aircraft was loaded with fuel.

Investigators cordoned off the crash scene this morning, as workmen from Southern California Edison were hoisted in hydraulic baskets to repair the damaged lines.

Some residents, however, drove into the museum’s parking lot to look at the wreckage. The aircraft, white with an orange stripe, had landed on its back. Its wings rested on one side.

Buena Park Police Officer Rich McMillen said the pilot’s body was badly charred, adding that coroner’s officials would probably use dental records to confirm his identity.