A veteran pilot was killed in a freak mid-air collision between two vintage airplanes in California on Sunday — with the National Transportation Safety Board now probing the crash.
Ryder Adams, 62, a member of the precision-flying Tiger Squadron, was piloting his CJ-6A vintage Chinese aircraft when it smashed into a Soviet-era plane in the skies over Lancaster, KTTV-TV News reported.
The pilot of the second plane, who was not identified, miraculously survived without serious injuries after crash landing nearby, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
“It is truly a tragic day for the RPA family,” the Red Star Pilots Association said on Facebook Monday.
“I am so sorry to inform you of the passing of our new leader and my close friend, Ryder “Hammer” Adams,” the post said. “Ryder’s Nanchang was involved in a fatal midair collision with a fellow RPA pilot’s plane while returning from a training event in Northern CA.
“The full circumstances of the accident are not known to us at this time, but thankfully the pilot of the other aircraft survived an off-field landing,” it said. “Please keep Ryder’s wife, Chris, in your thoughts.”
The crash took place around 12:50 pm, with one aircraft crashing to the ground near 47th Street East and the other around 60th Street East in the Los Angeles suburb, KTTV reported.
According to the Tiger Squadron website, Adams flew a 1985 Nanchang CJ-6A.
The Tiger Squadron site said Adams earned his pilot’s license in January 2012, “and attained his high-performance complex and multi-engine rating four months later.”
The other plane was a Soviet-era Yakovlev Yak-52, KTTV said.
The NTSB said in a statement Sunday that the cause of the collision is under investigation.
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