A pilot was killed after two small planes collided in mid-air over Lancaster Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
Federal authorities said Sunday they were investigating the crash, which a Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman said happened around 12:50 p.m.
Firefighters arrived at the scene of a plane crash near East 47th Street and Avenue F around 1:20 p.m., Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Sheila Kelliher-Berkoh said. A second plane crashed near East 60th Street and Avenue G, Kelliher-Berkoh said.
One of the pilots was pronounced dead at the scene, but the other was uninjured, she said. While details of the incident remained scarce Sunday afternoon, it appears the two planes collided over Lancaster, Kelliher-Berkoh said.
It was unclear Sunday afternoon what caused the crash, she said.
There were no passengers on board either plane.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is “investigating the mid-air collision between a Yakovlev Yak-52 and a Nanchang CJ-6A near Lancaster,” the agency said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
The Yak-52 is a single-engine aircraft designed in the 1970s in the Soviet Union. The CJ-6A was originally produced in the 1960s for the Chinese military. Both are known for their aerobatic use.
City News Service contributed to this report.
