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October 12, 2008 Patterson, CA

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Written by Jonathan Partridge \| Patterson Irrigator
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Pilot survives West Side crop-duster crash West Side dust-up. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator A Modesto man walked away from a crop-duster plane crash Thursday morning after the plane slammed into a power pole, landed in a melon field south of Patterson and burst into flames. Shawn Yoppini, 45, a pilot for Westley-based Valley Cropdusters, was flying a Grumman Ag-Cat Model B at about 5:30 a.m. when he hit the pole on Marshall Road about a quarter of a mile east of Davis Road, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department. A co-worker at Valley Cropdusters said Yoppini was back at work Friday after suffering minor injuries. Another Valley Cropdusters representative said the pilot did not wish to comment on the accident. CLOSE CALL: A group of people gather in the cantaloupe field where Modesto pilot Shawn Yoppini crashed his crop duster after clipping a power pole. Photo by Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator The flaming wreckage looked dire at first, leading investigators to suppose Yoppini had died, until they received a call from Yoppini saying he was OK. “I couldn’t find the pilot, and I thought, ‘Oh, my God,’” said sheriff’s deputy Clarence “Barney” Barnes. Sheriff’s spokesman Royjindar Singh said Yoppini jumped out of the plane before it crashed. The pilot was wearing a helmet, but he had scrapes on his head and legs, fellow pilot Dave Stein and sheriff’s officials said. Witness Javier Gonzalez said he was driving on Highway 33 when he saw the plane fly into the ground and catch fire at about 5:15 a.m. He said a flaming object, which turned out to be a part of the plane, hit the ground before the aircraft itself. The plane carved a gouge several hundred yards long leaving bits of its metal fuselage strewn about the field. Yoppini escaped the damaged craft before it hit the ground and burst into flames. Photo by Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator “It looked like a shooting star,” he said. Gonzalez then pulled over and called emergency dispatchers. The crash sheared the top of the power pole, and the plane pulled along power lines before it crash-landed, according to police and Turlock Irrigation District staffers. As a result, 1,830 TID customers in eastern and rural Patterson and Crows Landing lost power, TID spokeswoman Michelle Reimers said. Most homes had their power restored within 19 minutes, Reimers said, but some customers were without electricity until about 10:15 a.m. Barnes said it appeared Yoppini was unfamiliar with the field. He said the grower who farms the land indicated the field normally was sprayed by someone else. Still, Stein said Yoppini had lots of experience spraying in the area. He has been a pilot for about 25 years at Valley Cropdusters, which is owned by Yoppini’s family, and he has logged more than 14,000 flying hours, Stein said. “He’s been there all of his life,” Stein said. Stein said it’s easy for the brown power poles to blend into the background of nearby dirt paths when one is flying. ASSESSING THE WRECKAGE: Two Turlock Irrigation District workers inspect the damage done by a crop-duster that sheared off a power pole early Thursday morning before crashing into a cantaloupe field south of Patterson. Photo by Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator He suggested that was likely what caused the accident. An irrigator working nearby drove Yoppini to Valley Cropdusters after the accident, where Yoppini cleaned up, Stein said. From there, he went to Del Puerto Health Center, which was closed, before driving to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. Much of the cockpit of the crumpled plane was incinerated following the accident. The engine of the plane, attached to a broken propeller, lay several yards in front of the aircraft. Stanislaus County Hazardous Materials officials investigated the scene early in the morning. No environmental cleanup will likely be needed, because flames consumed most of the engine’s diesel, and the sprays inside the plane were diluted for regular use, said Sonya Harrigfeld, director of Stanislaus County’s Department of Environmental Resources. The National Transportation Safety Board will be the primary agency investigating the accident. Results of such investigations can take 12 to 18 months to complete, according to the board’s Web site. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 301 Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.