Plane crash victims identified as Sonora family

The victims of a fatal plane crash in Columbia on Wednesday have been identified as a Sonora family.

Daniel Kruetzfeldt, pilot of the 1958 Cessna 310B that crashed during landing at the Columbia airport, was with his wife, Kristin Kruetzfeldt; mother, Mary Chandler; and stepfather, Claude Chandler. All died at the scene after the plane veered off the runway into vegetation and caught fire.

Mary Chandler’s brother, Tom Parrington, identified the victims Thursday.

He didn’t know where they’d gone Wednesday, but said Daniel Kruetzfeldt was a professional pilot who had worked for the corporate jet charter Net Jets for at least 20 years.

Parrington said his 43-year-old nephew graduated from Sonora High School and had had his pilot’s license since graduating from college at San Jose State University.

Mary Chandler was Parrington’s only sister. She had one other son, Keith Kruetzfeldt, who could not be reached for comment.

“We were a small family and this wiped out about a third (of it),” Parrington said. “I was fortunate to have (Mary) join me on a hike just two weeks ago.”

Mary Chandler, 72, loved the outdoors.

“She always maintained herself very well; she was slim and athletic,” Parrington said. “She could hike 10 miles with no problem at all.”

She and husband Claude Chandler, 69, enjoyed backpacking and camping. Claude Chandler was an expert fisherman, Parrington said.

He said his sister raised sheep and had a “small herd of geriatric llama,” which she sometimes brought on backpacking trips to haul their equipment.

Parrington said Mary Chandler was an excellent wood carver who carved life-size animals. She’d been perfecting her craft for 25 years and had her work on exhibit in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties.

Mary and Claude Chandler had been married nine years. It was a second marriage for both.

Parrington declined to comment about Claude Chandler and Kristin Kruetzfeldt, instead deferring to their close family members, who could not be reached for comment.

Members of the National Transportation Safety Board were at the Columbia Airport on Thursday to investigate the crash.

Witnesses reported seeing the plane coming in to the airport from the north end of the runway, hitting wing first and making a sharp left off the runway and into a field of dry grass and rocks.

An average of 110 aircraft use the airport each day, according to information from the Federal Aviation Administration.

There is no air traffic control at the airport.

Ron and Nancy Hawke of Long Barn, who own a plane they keep at the airport, said when they fly they communicate with other pilots regarding their positions through a common traffic advisory frequency.

They were out flying Wednesday but had heard nothing of the crash until landing several hours after it occurred.

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Plane crash victims identified as Sonora family."