Plane Crashes in Field Near High School

Engine catches fire, but pilot and passenger receive minor
injuries after emergency landing
Morgan Hill – A single engine biplane landed in a large open field near Live Oak High School Friday afternoon, then flipped upside down sending the pilot to a nearby hospital.

The pilot of the Boeing E-75, Lennert Vonclemm, 73, was transported to Saint Louise Regional Hospital with bumps and bruises. He was tossed out of the plane when it flipped upside down as it was landing.

The owner of the plane, who was a passenger, suffered only minor injuries. Javier Garcia Lopez, 46, was hanging upside down, strapped into his seat, when officials arrived.  

Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. Joe Sampson said Vonclemm was practicing maneuvers over Anderson Reservoir when the engine caught fire shortly before 1:30pm.

“He realized he needed to put the plane down quickly, realized he probably couldn’t make it back to the (South County) airport, so he found the closest field,” he said.

Vonclemm put the biplane down in the empty field at the northeast corner of the intersection of Condit Road and East Main Avenue, about a half-mile from the Live Oak High School campus, where students were still in class.

As he brought the plane down to land, he slowed way down, Vonclemm told officials, and he put the landing gear on the ground, but the combination of a bumpy field and lift of the wind flipped the plane upside down.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection – South Santa Clara County engines and paramedics responded to the field along with Morgan Hill Police officers and Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies. Condit Road north of the intersection at East Main Avenue was closed while officials cleared the scene.

Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dalia Rodriguez said though the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was alerted, NTSB officials do not respond unless the crash results in a fatality. The owner of the plane, Lopez, will be responsible for removing the plane from the field, she said.

Vonclemm had started the dangerous flight from Reid Hillview Airport in San Jose.