58-Year-Old Pilot Killed When Engine Reportedly Siezed

A 58-year-old attorney from Atherton, California, was killed when the Lancair Legacy he was flying apparently suffered an engine failure and went down Saturday afternoon near Watsonville. The pilot, Gary Lampert, was the only person on board.

File Photo

Lampert, a pilot with 20 years experience, reported that his engine had caught fire while returning from Scottsdale, Arizona, where he had visited his uncle. Lampert was attempting an emergency landing at Watsonville Municipal Airport when he impacted the ground.

Palo Alto Online News says that the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that Lampert's brother David thinks that the engine seized because of a groove cut into the ground at the crash site (allegedly indicating a non-rotating prop). David Lampert told the paper that would indicate that the engine was not turning at the time of impact.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said no flight plan was filed, so it was not immediately known from where Lampert had departed. The accident is under investigation by the FAA and NTSB

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov