veteran Tulare County sheriff’s deputy and a civilian pilot were killed Wednesday afternoon when their single-engine plane crashed near Springville in Tulare County.
Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, looking visibly shaken at an evening news conference in Visalia, identified the men as Deputy Scott Ballantyne, 52, of Visalia, and pilot James Chavez, 45, of Hanford.
The crash on a mountainside happened with no warning, Boudreaux said. “There was no distress call, no mayday,” he said.
The department first learned of the crash, which occurred about 4 p.m. east of the Eagle Feather Trading Post, from eyewitnesses who said they saw the wreckage ablaze, Boudreaux said. Caltrans closed Highway 190 in the area of the crash about 4:45 p.m. and reopened the highway by 7:09 p.m.
Brian Duke, who lives near the crash site, said one of his friends watched the plane pitching from side to side before it crashed.
Shawn Winter, a resident of Springville, was driving down the hill to pick up his daughter from school when he saw something on the hillside.
“I saw the black color of smoke. There was a big old ball of flame,” he said.
(culled from www.fresnobee.com/)
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