Three Killed When Glasair Hits House

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A Glasair II two-seat kitplane crashed into a house in a suburban neighborhood outside Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday afternoon. The airplane’s owner, Patrick O’Brien, 49, of San Clemente, was killed, along with James McIsaac, 43, of Roseville, who was also a pilot. Chris Musil, 19, who lived in the house with his father, was killed. According to The Sacramento Bee, McIsaac lived in the neighborhood, and his wife and mother were watching when the aircraft suddenly dove into the house, which was quickly engulfed in flames. Witnesses said the aircraft was flying low over the neighborhood and performing aerobatics just before the crash. Spokesmen from EAA and Glasair were interviewed in the local press. Mikael Via, president of Glasair Aviation, told The Bee he is unaware of any instance where a bad part from his company caused a crash. “People see the word ‘experimental’ and that unfortunately conjures up an image that is incorrect,” he said. Dick Knapinksi, of EAA, told The Bee that all homebuilt aircraft are thoroughly inspected before they are allowed into the air. He added that pilots must fly a homebuilt plane for dozens of hours over sparsely populated areas before it is allowed to fly elsewhere.

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