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Pilot from Paso Robles plane crash identified
Posted: Oct 21, 2011 6:12 PM by Kathy Kuretich
Updated: Oct 21, 2011 11:42 PM
The pilot, who crashed a plane near the Paso Robles airport Friday, has been identified.
The San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Department says, 65 year-old Bobby Joe Blythe of Visalia was taken to Twin Cities hospital with moderate injuries.
It happened about 4:10 Friday morning, five miles northeast of the Paso Robles airport, in remote area near Ranchita Canyon and Van Dollen Roads.
Investigators say Blythe described the engine as sputtering before going down.
The Piper Malibu plane was substantially damaged and sheriff's investigators say Blythe had a moderate head injury.
But KSBY found out, this wasn't the first time Blythe had a plane crash. We found a newspaper article from the Hanford Sentinel from October of 2003.
It said Bobby Joe Blythe was airlifted to Fresno's University Medical Center after the crop dusting plane he was flying went down in a cotton field.
The article states Blythe was transported with serious injuries.
Friday, the FAA confirmed -- only one person is a registered pilot under that name.
Sheriff's department investigators say it took a while for them to locate Blythe, who was standing next to the plane when they arrived.
"We actually were talked in by the pilot while we were trying to triangulate his location. We used sirens and lights for him to see and for him to talk us in. What happened was we rolled emergency apparatus, firetrucks, ambulance, that type of thing, because he did have a moderate head injury," said Rob Bryn of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department.
Investigators said Blythe was on his way to the Paso Robles airport to pick up a passenger.
The tail number of the plane lists the owner as Central Valley Mortgage Services out of Porterville.
They had no comment.
The FAA and the NTSB will investigate.
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