by Anna Roy
Editorial Director
Michael Nestoff, 50, of La Palma lost his life Tuesday afternoon when his two-seater airplane crashed into horse stables on Fairplex property in Pomona.
Los Angeles firefighters rushed to the scene. Initially they feared an oil leak. It was there, that Nestoff was pronounced dead.
Nestoff was practicing take-off and landing skills at Brackett Airport in La Verne. He taxied out of Brackett at 4:38 p.m. and seven minutes later he reported engine failure to the air tower. He crashed approximately two minutes after that.
A preliminary investigation as to the cause of the crash is being conducted. A complete investigation will take one year, said Brackett Airport Manager Jake Godown.
The single-engine, ’60s era plane was recovered by the National Patrol Safety Board and taken back to a hangar at Brackett Field.
“Nothing has been declared,” Godown said. “It’s going to take six to 10 months to find out. There’s a lot of contributing factors that could lead to something like this.”
Although the cause of the crash will not be determined for months, some preliminary results should be released next week.
Nestoff, who had worked as an aircraft mechanic for years at U.S. Air, was a recreational pilot. He had been flying at Brackett Airport for five years prior to Tuesday.
Friends said that he had just had his engine and carburetor rebuilt and was a cautious pilot.
Prior to taking off that day, he had spoken to friends and fellow pilots at Brackett. When friends heard of the crash they immediately telephoned Nestoff’s wife who had seen footage of the crash on television.
“He was a very, very nice guy,” said Brandon Stones, an airport service worker of Nestoff. “He came in almost every day and a lot of people knew him. He was a very polite guy.”
