2 Killed In Small Plane Crash Near Auburn Airport; Rancho Cordova Reserve Officer Among Dead
AUBURN (CBS13) – A small plane crash near the Auburn Airport has left two people dead and one other injured on Friday.
The scene is about one mile northeast of the Auburn Municipal Airport on Dry Creek Road, near Haines Road. The plane crashed onto private property.
A single-engine Stinson Vultee V-77 was involved in the crash, according to the FAA. Cal Fire says the plane is privately owned.
According to the Placer County Sheriff's Office, three people were on board the plane when it crashed. One person was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities say, while the other person died at the hospital. The third person who was on board was life-flighted to Sutter Roseville hospital.
The two people killed in the crash have been identified by the Placer County Sheriff's Office as 80-year-old Anthony Lawrence Wright, Sr. and 55-year-old Anthony Lawrence Wright, Jr. Both were residents of Meadow Vista. Wright Jr. was a full-time records officer with the Rancho Cordova Police Department as well as a reserve officer, the sheriff's office says. He was also a 23-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
People who live where the plane went down didn't realize what had happened at the time.
"It sounded like a car crash or like a car fell off a jack and hit the ground. They didn't know what it was. They didn't know it was a plane crash," a neighbor said.
Pilots at the Auburn Airport, including Greg Foss, are also a little shaken. He says he knew Wright Sr.
"Everybody knows everybody. It's a small airport, so something like this happens, it's pretty devastating," Foss said.
Several other agencies have responded to the scene, including the Placer County Sheriff's Office and Auburn Fire. The NTSB and FAA have been notified and will be investigating exactly what caused the crash.
It's unclear if the plane was flying to or leaving the Auburn Airport, authorities say.
Dry Creek Road near the airport was closed due to the incident.
