(L.A.) Ronak Kandachia, 28, Died at Van Nuys Airport
Case Number: 2023-09947
Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 28-year-old Asian male that occurred at Van Nuys Airport.
The coroner’s office has identified the individual as Ronak Kandachia.
Manner of Death: Accident
Cause of Death: Blunt Force Trauma
RIP RONAK KANDACHIA (September 10, 1994 – August 2, 2023)
Formal pronouncement of death was made on Wednesday at 11:02 a.m.
The decedent was one of two people killed in fiery plane crash at Van Nuys Airport. He was licensed as a commercial pilot and worked at LA Flight Academy from March to October 2022. This year, he was working as an instructor for Aviators Flight Academy.
According to an airport police officer who witnessed the crash from a short distance away, the plane was a single-engine CSA SportCruiser that hit the ground nose first with very high impact. Right before the crash, Kandachia had radioed the tower that the engine had stalled.
Firefighters from a nearby fire station were on scene quickly and used foam in an effort to douse the intense flames from aviation fuel.
For data disaggregations purposes, this death is being logged as that of a person of South Asian descent. His family was from Gujarat in India and he himself was born in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
The other person on the plane was 24-year-old Robert Spencer.
The NTSB is leading the investigation and the FAA will be making a statement on the incident.
* The name on this death record was previously posted by the medical examiner as John Doe #346 . The real name was attached to the record on August 8.