Cardinal Newman official ID'd as victim in Lake County glider crash

<p>A Cotati businessman who was on Cardinal Newman High School’s board of directors was identified Sunday as one of two pilots killed Saturday in a midair collision at a small airfield northeast of Middletown.</p><p>Harold Chouinard, 63, was piloting a glider plane that that had just been towed into the air by a single-engine plane when he was forced to return to the airfield because of bad wind conditions, said his son, Tom Chouinard of Cotati.</p><p>The other plane also was returning to the airfield but from the opposite direction and the two planes crashed into each other near the airstrip, investigators said.</p><p>Tom Chouinard, a student at Santa Clara University, said the tow plane pilot was a friend of his father’s. </p><p>The tow plane pilot’s name has not been released.</p><p>Tom Chouinard said he was told that both pilots had radioed to an operator at the airfield that they were returning to land.</p><p>He said his father was an “extremely prepared pilot, he always took safety precautions.”</p><p>“It was just a freak accident,” Chouinard said.</p><p>He said he and other members of his family went to the airfield, between Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake, on Sunday morning “seeking some closure.”</p><p>He said his father had been a glider pilot for about 10 years and often had used the Lake County airfield.</p><p>He said his father loved to fly, having served in the Air Force as a young man. Harold Chouinard’s wife, Rae, said her husband served as an aircraft maintenance officer based in the Philippines.</p><p>Tom Chouinard said his father once told the family that if he ever died in a glider crash to “remember that he was doing what he loved to do.”</p><p>Chouinard said his father was considering retiring from his business, Chouinard & Myhre, a Cotati consulting firm that designs and supports computer software systems. The company has about 25 employees.</p><p>He was committed to ensuring that Cardinal Newman students had access to cutting-edge technology, said Jackie McMillan, also a board of director member.</p><p>Chouinard, also a good tennis player, did these things with a smile, McMillan said.</p><p>“Everybody liked him,” she said. “He had a very self-deprecating sense of humor. It was great. Very low key. But he always had a laugh in his voice.”</p><p>Mike Truesdell, president of Cardinal Newman, said Chouinard “made a very valuable contribution to our school. He will be sorely missed.”</p><p>On Sunday morning, investigators were examining the wreckage of the two planes and trying to figure out the circumstances of the collision at the longtime glider port, Crazy Creek Air Adventures.</p><p>“From what I understand, the tow plane took the glider up in the air and was coming back. The glider was having a hard time getting lift” and was heading back to the airfield, said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Rob Sonsteng</p><p>Witnesses told fire officials it appeared the pilots did not see each other before they collided at about 11 a.m. Saturday.</p><p>The planes crashed to the ground about 100 yards apart, Sonsteng said.</p><p>Glider port owner Jim Indrebo said Sunday he didn’t see the crash but thought the two pilots may have been coming in for a landing when they collided.</p><p>He directed questions to crash investigators.</p><p>“It is difficult,” he said of the two deaths.</p><p>The crash is being reviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration.</p><p>“The wreckage was still there. They were looking at the planes and looking at the impact of how they collided,” Sonsteng said.</p><p>In addition to his wife and son, Chouinard is survived by his daughters Mary and Nicole.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writers Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com and Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@pressdemocrat.com.</p>