Santa Paula Airport aviator, designer killed in crash

November 12, 2003
Santa Paula News

Federal Aviation Authorities are investigating the cause of a crash Friday that killed a pilot well known to the Santa Paula Airport and aviation communities.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesFederal Aviation Authorities are investigating the cause of a crash Friday that killed a pilot well known to the Santa Paula Airport and aviation communities.Russ Cathaway, 85, died from a broken neck after his red and white experimental plan crashed in the Santa Clara River bottom about a mile east of the Saticoy Highway 118 bridge.According to Ventura County Sheriff’s PIO Eric Nishimoto, the crash was reported at 3:20 p.m. on Nov. 7th.“Eyewitness accounts described the plane as flying very low, following the riverbed towards the 118 Highway,” near the bridge, before the aircraft banked and turned 180 degrees heading east towards the Santa Paula Airport, stated PIO Nishimoto.Although no one witnessed the actual crash, “sand was seen flying up into the air and the tail of the plane was seen flipping tail over nose for an instant.”
A VCSD helicopter arrived on scene within 10 minutes and found the plane upside down; a fire crew was flown to the scene to extricate Cathaway as the cockpit was buried deep in the sand.“The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene,” noted PIO Nishimoto, who noted that based on the wreckage it is believed the plane nose-dived into the river bottom.Cathaway, a resident of Ventura, had taken off in the single-engine, two-seat RV-6A aircraft from the Santa Paula Airport about seven miles away from where the plane crashed.Cathaway was a retired engineer who had worked at Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks division, the home of many famous experimental aircraft designers.Cathaway was the designer of the “El Bandito,” a plane originally designed for sport flying and capable of aerobatics; the plane was later renamed the “Frenzel Special.”



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