Arum Survives Crash

BIG BEAR LAKE —  An executive jet carrying boxing promoter Bob Arum and six other people crash-landed and burst into flames at the airport here Tuesday morning, but no one was seriously injured.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the twin-engine Cessna Citation 550 skidded off the end of the 5,850-foot runway, burst through a chain-link fence, hurtled across a road and skidded to a halt in a small field.

“The plane was a ball of fire when it went through that fence,” said Deputy Stan Wajnhamer of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

As the cabin filled with smoke, co-pilot Craig Terry managed to open the fuselage door, and everyone aboard scrambled to safety before the flames destroyed most of the jet.

“When I went through that door, it was a wall of flame,” Arum said.

The small jet had taken off from Las Vegas for the 100-mile flight to Big Bear Lake, where the passengers later attended the opening day of training camp for World Boxing Council super welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya is scheduled to defend his title at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel in Las Vegas next month.

Those aboard the jet included Arum, the 70-year-old chief of Top Rank Inc.; Scott Voeller, marketing director of the resort; H. C. Rowe, the hotel’s director of events and entertainment; Las Vegas Review-Journal sportswriters Royce Feour and Kevin Iole, copilot Terry and the pilot, Joseph Tophan.

Feour was taken to Bear Valley Community Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.

The plane, built in 1985, was registered to Melita Eagle Inc. in Wilmington, Del.

The cause of the crash and the source of the fire were not immediately determined, and neither pilot commented on what happened, according to Wajnhamer.

“It’s a small runway, a big plane and, based on what some of the passengers said, they just came in too low and too fast, but that’s speculation,” the sheriff’s deputy said.

Arum said Voeller realized something was amiss as the plane approached the runway, shouting, “Hang on, guys, we’re going to miss the runway,” as the jet was about to touch down.

Aviation sources said that because of the air temperature of about 85 degrees and the airport’s altitude of 6,748 feet, the jet probably landed faster than it would have in cooler temperatures at a lower altitude.

“They say any time you walk away from a plane crash, you’re lucky,” Wajnhamer said. “But figure that plane bounced off the runway, that it was on fire when it crossed the road, that it screeched to a stop in the field, and then you look at what’s left of it and you have to say it is miraculous that everyone survived.”

John Morley, assistant fire chief for Big Bear Lake, agreed.

“It is fairly remarkable,” he said. “It you looked at the wreckage, you wouldn’t have high expectations anyone survived.”

The five passengers boarded a second plane sent by Mandalay Bay late Tuesday afternoon for the return to Las Vegas.

“The odds are in my favor,” Arum said. “It can’t happen twice in the same day.”

*

*--* OSCAR DE LA HOYA VS. FERNANDO VARGAS Sept. 14 at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas 12-round match for De La Hoya’s WBC and Vargas’ WBA super-welterweight titles. TV: Pay-per-view

*--*