By Khalida Sarwari
The Monterey County coroner’s office has identified the pilot of a single-engine airplane who died in a crash in Chualar on Thursday night as 59-year-old Daniel Luis Franscioni.
Franscioni’s homebuilt airplane departed from Salinas Municipal Airport and crashed at a vineyard at 29250 Chualar Canyon Road around 7 p.m., according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.
Franscioni was the only person on board and the plane was destroyed in the crash, Gregor said. His autopsy today revealed he died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to the coroner’s office.
Franscioni was a resident of Chaular Canyon.
The circumstances of the crash were not immediately known. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
