Pilot killed, 2 injured in plane crash in Palo Alto

The crash of a small plane Tuesday morning in Palo Alto left one man dead and injured a mother and her daughter, authorities and family members said.

The Palo Alto Fire Department responded to an aircraft that went down shortly after 11 a.m. near the city’s airport. The pilot, a man in his 60s, was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Meanwhile, Nancy Dellamaria, 49, and her daughter Chloe King, 16, were transported to Stanford Trauma Center.

Deputy Fire Chief Geo Blackshire did not specify the severity of the injuries but noted that one female victim could walk while the other was carried on a stretcher. Dellamaria’s sister, Nancy Paquette, confirmed to The Chronicle that the women were on the plane. Authorities did not disclose the name of the pilot.

As he approached Palo Alto’s airport, the pilot told a tower controller that he was not familiar with the airfield, according to air traffic controller audio. Prior to landing, the pilot said he would have to execute a “go-around” because he “came in too fast.”

Dellamaria and her daughter were traveling from Redding to Palo Alto on a plane operated by Angel Flight West, a nonprofit organization that provides free, nonemergency medical transport to children and adults with serious conditions. King had a surgery scheduled at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital on Wednesday, Paquette said.

Josh Olson, executive director of Angel Flight West, confirmed to The Chronicle that one of the organization’s planes crashed in Palo Alto.

“Thoughts and prayers are with the volunteer pilot and passengers,” he said.

Olson did not have any details about the victims’ conditions or the cause of the crash.

A photo sent out by the Fire Department showed the badly damaged aircraft in a body of water near the Palo Alto Duck Pond on Embarcadero Road. The airport remained open and operational Tuesday afternoon.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.