SQUARE ONE OWNER KILLED

Air Classics, Sep 2004

Ross Andersen perishes in crash of homebuilt

On 11 December 2003, Ross Anderson, president and owner of RKA Enterprises, acquired Square One Aviation at Chino Airport from the Elmer Ward family. Anderson, a former Navy F-4 Phantom II and F-8 Crusader fighter pilot, had also been a Top Gun instructor before becoming CEO of a number of aerospace companies. Using his business skills, Ross had made some exciting plans for Square One - a company known for their outstanding Warbird restorations, especially P-51Ds and TF-51Ds. Square One is the only restorer which offers the proprietary two-seat TF conversion.

Ross had built a two-seat Harmon Rocket II homebuilt which he used to commute on a daily basis between Torrance Airport and Chino and unfortunately on 7 July he was killed in the crash of that airplane. According to the FAA, he had departed Torrance for Chino at 8:03 am hut the air traffic controller lost radar and radio contact with the plane about 8:15 am while the Rocket was 5300-ft above Seal Beach. An FAA spokesperson said that there was no indication of anything wrong with the plane or pilot.

The plane came down in a residential area and impacted the side of a house and exploded. Fortunately, no one on the ground was injured by the crash. Spectators stated that the aircraft appeared to be coming down out of control and they also commented that it seemed the engine was undergoing various power changes. The NTSB will do a complete investigation into the accident.