Pilot killed in crash of replica Appleby Nieuport 28 biplane

Pilot killed in crash of replica Appleby Nieuport 28.

Sad. Perhaps a stall/spin accident? Or mechanical failure of some kind?

Pilot killed in crash of replica WWI-era plane in California

PASO ROBLES, Calif. —

Authorities say a pilot was killed when a replica World War I-era biplane crashed in a field on California's central coast.

The San Luis Obispo County sheriff's office says the single-engine, open-cockpit plane went down shortly after takeoff from a private airfield Sunday.

Spokesman Tony Cipolla says the pilot, who was identified as 54-year-old Javier Fernando Arango of Los Angeles, died at the scene in Paso Robles, about 200 miles northwest of Los Angeles. He was the only person on the plane.

Sheriff's department photos show the plane on its side with broken wings and a crumpled front end.

Ian Gregor with the Federal Aviation Administration says it's a replica Appleby Nieuport 28 from 1976.
The original biplanes were built starting in 1917, according to the National Air and Space Museum.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
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Looks like the plane crashed going straight down.
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Some more information on the pilot.

Javier Arango of Los Angeles killed in Paso Robles plane crash | The Tribune

Man killed in Paso Robles plane crash identified.

One person was killed when a single-engine biplane crashed in a field east of the Paso Robles Municipal Airport on Sunday morning.

Javier Fernando Arango, 54, of Los Angeles was the sole occupant in the World War I replica biplane when it took off from a private airstrip near the airport about 9 a.m., according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.
The plane crashed a few minutes later in the area of Highway 46 and Estrella Road.

Arango was a board member emeritus of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and was a well-known member of the local aviation community.

He was also featured as a World War I aircraft enthusiast in Air & Space magazine, which said he had “one of the world’s finest private collections of World War I aircraft.”

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are expected to investigate the crash.

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