Pilot Who Died In Plane Crash By 14 Freeway Identified

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The pilot who died after his single engine plane crashed by the 14 Freeway Saturday has been identified as Wayne Richards.

Richards' friends say he owned a couple of planes, and like his nickname, "Cloud Chaser," spent as much time as he could up in the air.

Richards' fateful flight began at Van Nuys Airport. CBSLA's Adrianna Weingold spoke to pilots there who say there's almost nothing he could have done to land that plane safely.

One of them, George Marciniw, crossed paths with Richards there.  After the crash, he pulled the recording from air traffic control, to listen and try and figure out what went wrong.

"When the engine blew it must have sprayed oil and debris all over the windshield, so unfortunately I don't think he was able to see anything," Marciniw said. "With an engine out and I don't know how close he was to the ground, I'm sure there wasn't much time at all."

The plane caught fire after it crashed. Richards died on scene. No one on the ground was injured.