Pilot, student in Northeast plane crash identified

The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office yesterday released the names of the two men killed in a plane crash Thursday near Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

The student pilot was identified as Charles A. Angelina, 24, of the 800 block of Cross Street in the Southwark section of South Philadelphia, and his instructor as Adam Byron Braddock, 28, of New Brighton in Western Pennsylvania.

Although some media reports released the names last week, the Medical Examiner's Office would not confirm them because dental records were needed to identify the bodies.

Jeff Moran, a spokesman for the medical examiner, said the autopsy showed Angelina died from a head injury and soot and smoke inhalation. Braddock died from "blunt trauma" and soot and smoke inhalation.

The two men were killed about noon Thursday when the Grumman AA-1C Trainer flown by Angelina, a student pilot preparing to take his pilot's license exam, and Braddock, his flight instructor, crashed and burned while practicing touch-and-go takeoffs and landings at Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

The plane was owned by Hortman Aviation, based at the airport, which runs a flight school and sells, leases and charters airplanes. Herbert Hortman, the company's owner, has said Angelina was an advanced student and Braddock was a commercial pilot who had taught for Hortman for two years.

Jill Demko, an air-safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said yesterday that the agency had begun its probe of the crash but that the cause would not be determined for six to nine months.

On Thursday, Federal Aviation Administration officials said, Angelina had completed two touch-and-go maneuvers in the single-engine fixed-wing plane and was preparing for a third when the control tower asked him to make a hard right turn to remain in the air-traffic pattern.

The plane apparently did not have enough air speed to maintain lift and crashed. Police said the plane appeared to touch down in the back parking lot of the TJ Maxx warehouse in a large industrial park southeast of the intersection of Roosevelt Boulevard and Red Lion Road. The plane skidded under a line of trailers at a loading dock and burst into flames.

Services for Angelina and Braddock are scheduled for today in South Philadelphia and New Brighton.

For Angelina, visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m. at Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Roman Catholic Church, 10th and Dickinson Streets, followed by a Funeral Mass beginning at 11 a.m.

Visitation for Braddock will be from 3 to 8 p.m. today at the J&J Spratt Funeral Home, 1612 Third Ave., New Brighton, with a blessing service and burial tomorrow morning.