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County identifies pilot killed in Borrego plane crash as Mira Mesa cardiologist

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A Mira Mesa cardiologist was identified Sunday as the pilot killed as he attempted to bail out of a crashing airplane and his parachute malfunctioned near the Borrego Valley Airport.

Reinaldo Walter Beyer, 58, of Del Mar was flying aerobatics in an experimental plane about 12:40 p.m. Saturday when the plane had some form of mechanical failure, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The plane spiraled out of control and Beyer ejected from it. But his parachute did not completely open because of the low altitude, the Medical Examiner’s Office reported, and he died at the scene.

The plane had substantial damage, Allen Kenitzer, spokesman for the FAA, said Saturday.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating, Kenitzer said. NTSB is the lead investigative agency.

A NTSB investigator usually posts a basic preliminary report on the agency’s website — ntsb.gov — within a week or two of the crash. But it typically takes the NTSB months to come up with a probable cause for accidents, Kenitzer said.

According to the FAA registry, the single-engine plane was owned by Edward R. Moore of San Diego.

Beyer was a cardiologist at Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group near the Mira Mesa Sharp Memorial Hospital, according to the medical group’s president.

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