The massiveCanyon Firetearing through the El Paso Mountains south of Ridgecrest has taken a heartbreaking turn, as the family of a California pilot identified their loved one as a victim of the suspected plane crash that ignited the blaze Thursday.
AGoFundMehas been established for his wife Nadeem and her three children following the sudden death of her husband, Ramzi Al-Shurman, whose aircraft is believed to have gone down Thursday morning before the fire was reported in the exact remote area.
Thefast-moving firehas scorched over 2,000 acres, and is reportedly being linked to a 2006 Cessna 182T that vanished from radars shortly after takeoff from Inyokern Airport inKern County.
While the Kern County Fire Department has not officially confirmed the crash, flight logs from FlightAware paint a grim picture.
The aircraft, with tail number N227TF, took off at 10:47 a.m. on Thursday. Its signal cut out just seven minutes later at 10:54 a.m.
The final GPS coordinates on the flight map align almost perfectly with the ignition point of the fire, which was first reported later in the afternoon. The plane is registered to Top Flight Aviation out of Corona, California.
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For Nadeen and her children, the disaster is deeply personal.
“Nadeen’s world was turned upside down yesterday when her husband, Ramzi (28 years old), a newly graduated flight instructor, tragically lost his life in a plane crash,” reads the GoFundMe.
“He had spent the past few years dedicating his time and resources to building a brighter future for his family.” Ramzi was just 10 days away from “starting his dream job as a private pilot.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
