Pilot Killed In Rio Linda Plane Crash Remembered For Kindness, Generosity
RIO LINDA (CBS13) — The wreckage of Thursday's deadly small plane crash was removed from the backyard of a Rio Linda home on Friday.
The pilot killed in that crash is being remembered for his giving-spirit and passion for flying.
Dr. Marshall Michaelian died when his plane crash-landed in a backyard a mile from the McClellan Air Field Thursday.
Crews hoisted the wreckage from the small plane—backwards from its final crash landing spot in a backyard.
The airplane's tail battered, its wings sawed off, its propellers bent
The FAA reports the plane was bound for San Carlos from Auburn when investigators believe the pilot attempted an emergency landing at McClellan Air Field.
Air traffic recordings describe the initial crash aftermath.
"We got a downed aircraft out here."
"Can you let us know if you can see anything? They're a mile out from the runway right on the approach in."
The pilot, oral surgeon Marshall Michaelian is shown in photos on his dental practice website with his Lancair plane that he was flying when he crashed.
Michaelian was a volunteer for "Angel Flight" and had flown 28 missions, flying children with burn scars and hearing impairments to special needs camps in his plane.
"It's sad, it's very sad," Auburn pilot Kenton Kiaser said.
Kiaser had recently befriended Michaelian.
He says Michaelian's Lancair, a high-performance plane, was the envy of the airport.
"He had quite a bit of experience with the hours he had, and he had built the airplane that he was flying," Kiaser said.
NTSB crews removed the plane from the crash site and will deconstruct it at a wreckage warehouse.
"I'll do a teardown examination, where I'll thoroughly look at the engine," NTSB investigator Zoe Keliher said.
An NTSB preliminary investigation report is expected to be released next week. A full crash report will take a year.
