FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR, 18, STUDENT, 19, DIED IN CRASH AT CHINO

A young flight instructor and his student were killed in a fiery plane crash only 10 minutes after their plane took off from Chino Airport, according to federal investigators.

Eighteen-year-old instructor Matthew Paul Shope, of Long Beach, and 19-year-old Pedro Torres, of Pomona, were aboard the single-engine American Aviation AA-1A that slammed into the foothills of the Cleveland National Forest near the 4000 block of Suzie Circle south of Corona at 10:25 a.m. June 23. The crash ignited a one-acre wildfire.

The plane was operated by Chino-based Duke's Flying Club.

"According to the manager of DFC, the flight was an introductory lesson for the student pilot with a destination of Lake Mathews, located about 15 miles southeast of Chino," says the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report. "He stated that the (instructor) joined DFC in June ... and that this was his second flight with the club."

The crash was witnessed by a neighborhood resident who first noticed the plane from her bedroom. Planes often fly over the area but this time the sound seemed much louder and lower than usual, so she ran outside to look, she told investigators.

'AEROBATIC MANUEVER'

The plane was flying just above a ridgeline when it made an abrupt swooping and descending left turn toward her, according to the report.

"She described the turn as extravagant and similar to an aerobatic maneuver typically seen at air shows," investigators wrote. "As the airplane began to roll out of the turn, the wings started to rock from side to side.

"The airplane then immediately descended nose-down into the ground."

American Aviation built the AA-A1 in 1971 as it phased out its AA-1 "Yankee" model, which suffered through a number of safety issues, according to an article published by Aviation Consumer magazine in 1989. The AA-A1 model was designated as a trainer.

In 1973, soon after Grumman Corporation purchased American Aviation, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an airworthiness directive prohibiting spins in the Model AA-1A, which the agency warned "might lead to accidental spin entry." The agency required the installation of placards by Grumman American Aviation Corporation, the aircraft's manufacturer at the time, warning pilots of the risk.

Staff writer David Keck contributed to this report. Reach Richard Brooks at [email protected] or 951-368-9463.