Pilot and passenger killed in weekend crash had visited air museum
New details emerged Tuesday about two people killed in a weekend plane crash near Morongo Valley.
The crash happened just 23 miles northwest of Palm Springs Saturday near the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve.
The pilot, Bob Trimble, and his passenger, Terri Day, had flown from Santa Barbara to the Palm Springs International Airport hours earlier.
Trimble was the general manager for Accurate Aviation” in Santa Barbara.
Day was the company owner’s fiance.
They came to donate a POW/MIA bracelet to the Palm Springs Air Museum.
The bracelet belonged to a fellow soldier, Trimble once served with in Vietnam.
Trimble wore the bracelet for years in memory of U.S. Army Specialist IV, David Lee Scott.
An air museum volunteer, Dave Thompson, now wears the bracelet, which will be included in a future exhibit.
He said Trimble contacted him about six months ago.
Thompson said Trible told him, “he had the bracelet and this is the bracelet of his best friend they served in Vietnam.”
Thompson added, “His friend didn’t come home so he had been wearing the bracelet for years and years and years and he heard about our program and he wanted to present it to us.”
The air museum is collecting bracelets honoring POW’s and MIA’s for a planned memorial.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating Saturday’s small plane crash.
