Two Separate Aircraft Crashes Leave 5 Dead, 1 Severely Burned

The lone survivor of an airplane crash that killed three people in a remote area of Kern County was listed in serious but stable condition Sunday at a Sherman Oaks hospital.

John David Orozco, 26, of San Gabriel, underwent surgery Saturday night after suffering second- and third-degree burns over 20% of his body--including parts of his arms, shoulders, ears and face--according to Larry Weinberg, a spokesman for the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital. Orozco is scheduled to undergo a second surgery today to remove more damaged tissue.

After departing from Burbank Airport on Saturday, the Piper Cherokee carrying Orozco and three others went down shortly before 4 p.m. about 30 miles east of Bakersfield. The plane had been scheduled to land near that city on a private airstrip.

Orozco managed to walk to a farm and phone his mother. The identities of the three people who died in the crash were not released Sunday.

Another aircraft crash, this one near Interstate 215 in Perris, took two lives when a rookie pilot and his instructor were killed in the student’s first ultralight flight, authorities said Sunday.

Eric Allan, 31, of Yorba Linda, was on a training flight Saturday, said Wayne Kunze, manager of the Ultralight Airpark. Brian Love, 41, of Moreno Valley, had more than 1,000 hours of flying experience and had given weekend lessons at the air park for three years.

The two-seat Quicksilver crashed Saturday morning about an hour after it left the air park at the Perris Valley Airport, Kunze said.

Investigators were looking into the causes of both crashes.