Feb. 4, Joshua Tree, Calif. / Two North American T-28Cs

At about 14:40 PST, two North American T-28, operating as a flight of two aircraft, were destroyed when they impacted terrain during cruise flight near Joshua Tree. Both pilots were killed. The flight departed Van Nuys, Calif., at 13:51 en route for Thermal, Calif. A witness 13 miles from the crash site reported seeing the planes at 14:30 flying southeast at about 5,000 feet agl. The accident site is in mountainous terrain at 5,300 feet msl. Weather near the accident site at the time consisted of overcast clouds with the tops of the mountains intermittently obscured in clouds, snow, and light rain. Scattered clouds locally obscured lower terrain.