AUBURN, Calif — The plane a father and son duo were flying when they died in an Auburn crash on Friday had just had its engine replaced weeks prior, according to an airplane mechanic who knew the victims.
Anthony Lawrence Wright Sr., 80, and Anthony Lawrence Wright Jr., 55, were flying their single-engine Stinson Vultee V-77 when they crashed into a wooded area one mile away from the Auburn Municipal Airport. One other person on-board the plane was injured.
Reports of a low-flying plane with engine troubles came around 10 a.m. Friday. Minutes later, dispatch audio from Placer County Sheriff's Department revealed officials calling for emergency crews.
"We need fire... Fuel’s leaking," dispatch said. "We have one entrapped, one [possible fatality]. We have one conscious, breathing."
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash but has only said the plane crashed "under unknown circumstances."
Wright Jr. was a veteran in law enforcement, having worked with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department for 23 years before becoming reserve deputy sheriff working in the Rancho Cordova Police Department's records office.
His little sister, Mina Hoops, said despite Wright Jr.'s large stature, he was a true teddy bear at heart. Hoops said her brother and father were best friends — thick as thieves.
Hoops said Wright Sr., a former attorney, made it a point in his off-time to help his neighbors and her brother.
Wright Sr. was disbarred from practicing law in 2009 after he pleaded guilty one year prior to seven counts of sexually abusing a child under 14 years old, according to the California Bar Association.
Together, the father and son restored the 944 Stinson World War 2 airplane they were flying to its true glory. They kept the vintage plane in immaculate shape and flew her a few times a week.
"My dad had to check in with the airplane everyday," Hoops said. "He would just drive to the airport, pet his plane, and come home."
Greg Foss, an airplane mechanic who flies out of the same Auburn airport as the victims, said he's known Wright Sr. and Wright Jr. for more than 30 years. Foss said the father and son would fly out out of the Auburn airport upwards to three times a week.
About four weeks ago, the Wright Sr. and Wright Jr. replaced the engine on the plane but had flown it several times before the crash, Foss told ABC10.
"It's sad. I mean it’s, you know, something you got to sit back and think about," Foss said. "I mean, that’s part of aviation."
Foss said Senior and Junior were flight enthusiasts so it was common for the two of them to take off, fly about, and land.
Bernie Schroeder, the Planning and Public Works Director for the city of Auburn, oversees the Auburn Municipal Airport. Schroeder's team deals with safety, operations, projects and airport improvements.
The airport is an unmanned general aviation airport. It has no air traffic control tower, which means pilots dial into a single frequency and work out takeoff and landings among themselves, Schroeder said.
Some flights are not tracked unless they file a flight plan, which they are not required to do, Foss said.
Schroeder estimated 70,000 takeoffs and landings at the airport each year. Currently, there are around 220 aircraft, seven helicopters, and 49 Tee Hangars and tie downs at the airport.
Hoops said she wants people to look beyond her father and brother's tragic ends, and, instead, know that an inseparable father and son duo left this earth together in their beloved aircraft.
"We know that they’re up in heaven," Hoops said. "We know that they’re together. That brings us tremendous solace. And peace."
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