Accident Occurred On Airport Grounds Last Thursday

A car crash on the grounds of Camarillo Airport in Ventura County, CA last week resulted in the fatal injury of Todd McNamee, the county's Director of Airports.

The Ventura County Star reports that fire officials received a report of a vehicle fire on a remote area of the airport just before 7:00 a.m. last Thursday. The car was about 1,500 feet from the tarmac, according to the report. Fire crews responded to the accident and extinguished the fire, at which point a body was discovered inside the burned wreckage, according to the report.

The Camarillo Acorn reports that McNamee was later identified as the person fatally injured. The 52-year-old had been appointed airport director in 2005, and was described as a "pilot's pilot" by Ventura County CEO Mike Powers.

In an official statement, Powers said McNamee "was passionate about people and built a talented, tight-knit team at the airports department . . . He was also appreciated statewide, nationally and internationally for his commitment to the aviation industry."

McNamee was a graduate of Embry-Riddle University.

While it was not unusual for a car to be driving along the tarmac at the airport, it is still not know what caused McNamee to go off the pavement and crash, leading to the fire.

(Official photo)

FMI: Source report