Four victims in Visalia plane crash identified as Sacramento family, says Sheriff’s Office
The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office on Monday identified the four victims who died in a plane crash on a foggy evening Saturday as members of a family from Sacramento.
The victims were 78-year-old David Chelini and his two daughters, 46-year-old Karen Baker and 48-year-old Donna Chelini, as well as his 58-year-old nephew, Steven Chelini, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office has not said which of the victims was the pilot but public records indicate David Chelini, who lived adjacent to Sacramento Executive Airport, was the only pilot aboard. He obtained a private pilot’s license in 2010 and was instrument-rated, according to FAA airmen records.
The crash happened at 6:36 p.m. near Road 68 and Avenue 288, a few miles west of the Visalia Municipal Airport.
The single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza was registered to David Chelini, according to flight records of the Federal Aviation Administration. Officials from the FAA were at the site of the crash on Sunday to assist the National Transportation Safety Board with the investigation, according to authorities.
Fog was rolling in and out of the area at the time of the crash, the Sheriff’s Office has said, but officials have not said if the weather was a factor.
The investigation is still in its early stages with few details immediately available to the public, according to Peter Knudson, a public affairs officer with the NTSB. He said a preliminary report is likely weeks away.
This story was originally published December 6, 2021 at 12:44 PM.
