A longtime pilot and flight instructor killed Thursday when a plane crashed into a orchard near Piru had been seriously injured in another fatal crash 15 years ago.
Michael Boolen, 59, of Pacoima and Harry Bell, 89, of Newhall were killed when Bell's two-seater Sting Sport crashed about 1:30 p.m. Thursday near East Telegraph and Santa Paula Canyon roads, officials said Friday.
They had taken off from Whiteman Airport in Pacoima and were expected to return there, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.
Boolen had suffered third-degree burns and other injuries in a 1997 crash near the same airport, friends and family members said Friday. He survived, but a flight student and a second man were killed when the plane crashed into two houses shortly after takeoff from Whiteman.
It was difficult for him to resume flying after the crash, but he was back in a plane within eight months, Chris Boolen, 24, said of his father.
"That was one of his biggest passions," Chris said Friday. "He pretty much lived at the airport. It was his second home."
Bell also was a pilot and flight instructor. Boolen's family members said the two men were friends. They apparently both had flown humanitarian missions, taking medical personnel to Mexico.
Bell was named the Santa Clarita Valley Man of the Year in 2011. The World War II veteran and longtime civil engineer and Realtor was nominated for the award by the Santa Clarita Valley Rotary Club.
"Our entire club and community is very deeply saddened by this," past president Trish Grinnell said in a phone message Friday.
Boolen also was in the military, flying jets in the Navy, family and friends said. He later worked as an electrical engineer and a flight instructor.
On Sept. 25, 1997, Boolen was flying with a student pilot and a friend in a Ryan Navion when the plane lost power shortly after takeoff, crashed into two homes and burst into flames. Nobody on the ground was hurt.
It was the sixth crash in the San Fernando Valley area in 15 months, The Associated Press reported at the time. In response, some officials asked for agencies to review local operations. A safety study by FAA officials several months earlier, however, had concluded that accidents at Whiteman were no higher than at most urban airports.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the 1997 crash likely was caused by improper use of the fuel tank selector. The auxiliary fuel tank had been selected and caused the engine to lose power, investigators said.
Geoffrey Bertoldo, a pilot who met Boolen at Whiteman more than 20 years ago, said Boolen told him that he tried to get the other men out of the plane but it burst into flames before he could get to them.
"He was a great guy, a good pilot, who was always helping people," said Bertoldo.
The cause of Thursday's crash was still under investigation.
FAA and NTSB officials are investigating, Gregor said. A preliminary report is expected to be released next week, but a complete investigation likely will take several months.
Bell's plane crashed in a citrus orchard about 200 yards north of Highway 126 and about 50 yards from a home and several other buildings, officials said. Authorities did not say who was piloting the plane.
An autopsy Friday revealed Boolen died of blunt-force injuries, said Craig Stevens, a senior deputy Ventura County medical examiner. The death was ruled an accident.
An autopsy for Bell will be done Saturday.
Bell and Boolen were both tenants at Whiteman Airport, said Scott Wardle, regional manager of American Airports Corp., which manages six Los Angeles County airports.
Along with having planes at the airport, Boolen was hired for electrical projects there, Wardle said.
"He worked not just at Whiteman Airport but many of the other county airports. He probably was the best electrician I have ever known," Wardle said.
"He had been a fixture at the airport and was well liked for a long time," said Charles Ducat, also a pilot.
"He died doing what he loved."
Chris Boolen last saw his dad at a Fourth of July barbecue. "My dad was probably the most humble guy you could meet," Chris said. "He was friends with everyone."
Both Chris and his sister, Elizabeth, 19, fly planes, taught by their father. "He was a great man and a great pilot," Elizabeth said.
Thursday's crash was Ventura County's second fatal plane accident of 2012. The pilot of a former military plane contracted by the Navy for tactical exercises died May 18 when it crashed in a farm field on its return to Point Mugu.
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