Pilot in crash a ‘hero’ for avoiding homes

HAYWARD — The pilot who died Sunday when his plane crashed into a BART train yard appeared to maneuver the plane away from a neighborhood and may have saved several homes, according to a witness who said he saw the plane moments before its impact.

The Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau on Tuesday identified the pilot as 60-year-old Robert Pursel Jr., of Fremont. Pursel was the registered owner of the Piper PA-23-150 that went down around 2:10 p.m. at BART’s Hayward yard. The aircraft was registered out of Wailuku, Hawaii on Maui, according to a Federal Aviation Administration registry. Pursel had worked in technology since the mid-1990s and was the director of investor relations at MagnaChip Semiconductor, a Korean-based manufacturer of semicon- ductors that has an office in San Jose, according to his LinkedIn page.

On Sunday, he flew in low while apparently heading to the Hayward Executive Airport. The crash happened around four miles east of the airport, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.

A San Jose man who was at a nearby Hayward market on Sunday afternoon said it appeared the pilot was trying to avoid crashing into homes. “It wasn’t sputtering,” said Tom Lynch, 37. “It looked almost as (if) it was on a final approach for landing but turning and trying to avoid houses. He banked a couple of times and went around structures. I think the guy is a hero.”

Lynch said he saw smoke rise from the crash and the plane caught fire.

Pursel died at the scene, authorities said. They didn’t release any information about what may have caused the crash or confirm that the pilot appeared to turn to avoid a residential area.