Car pioneer dies in plane crash

It all started about four years ago, when David and Mary Hermance moved to Huntington Beach. Weekend walks along the beach with their dog Roxy, Saturday morning trips to Starbucks and maybe Barnes & Noble — these were the things that the man known by his friends and colleagues as the brain behind the American hybrid car loved to do.

He also loved to fly.

A licensed pilot since the age of 16, David Hermance found a great love of aerobatics in the last two decades.

Saturday afternoon, Hermance, 59, was in the middle of an aerial maneuver in an experimental craft just off the coast of San Pedro when his plane crashed into the water, killing him on impact.

On Tuesday at the Hermance home in Huntington Beach, his family sipped wine and looked at old photos, reminiscing about the man they all cared for so much.

“He was an amazing person to me,” daughter-in-law Lindsay Hermance said. “It was just Dave, my husband’s dad. He was such a modest guy for the impact he had on the community and the environment.”

Hermance, an executive at Toyota, was said to be instrumental in the development and promotion of the second-generation of the hybrid vehicle, particularly the Prius.

“He had the uncanny ability to take the tech info and translate [it] into common words — one of the reasons he was such a popular speaker,” said colleague Bruce Brownlee.

He enjoyed talking to people about technology, opening their eyes to the possibility of what advanced technology could offer, Brownlee said.

Although not working in the same department, Brownlee and Hermance often crossed paths at workshops and conferences. Every time, Hermance made a lasting impression through his words and sense of humor.

Hermance departed from the Long Beach Airport Saturday afternoon, according to Los Angeles County firefighters. At about 1:20 p.m. a lifeguard saw the plane crash into the water off the coast near White Point and immediately called for assistance, Fire Capt. Mark Savage said.

Hermance’s body was found near where the plane hit the water. The wreckage sunk by the time rescue crews reached that area and apparently Hermance was thrown from the plane after impact, Savage said.

Rescue workers found the plane at about 9:20 a.m. Sunday.

Salvage efforts are scheduled for today, although the investigation into the cause of the crash will not be complete until at least one year from now. Airbags attached to the plane will bring it to the surface of the water, where it can be taken to shore and then towed for investigation, Savage said.

Once the plane is pulled out of the water it will be placed in a storage facility in Pearblossom, where it will be examined, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Nicole Charnon said in a phone interview Tuesday.

“Part of it depends on how much we are able to recover and look at,” Charnon said.

Charnon has contacted at least one pilot who was flying in the area and heard a distress call over the radio before the plane went down.

“Hermance was able to get a mayday out; unfortunately, he did not indicate what the problem was before the accident occurred,” Charnon said Tuesday.

Funeral services are at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Simon and Jude Catholic Church, 20444 Magnolia St., Huntington Beach. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the American Diabetes Assn. Research Division, 1701 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, Va., 22311, in memory of David Hermance.