PILOT IN CRITICAL CONDITION WITH BURNS ON 92% OF BODY.

Byline: Stacy Finz Daily News Staff Writer

The pilot of a two-seat vintage plane that crashed in a Pacoima neighborhood, killing a female passenger, was in critical condition Sunday at Sherman Oaks Hospital, his doctor said.

Jordan Kaplan, 32, was on a respirator and was being treated for third-degree burns covering 92 percent of his body at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center, said Dr. Peter Grossman.

``He's in extremely grave condition,'' Grossman said. ``It will be touch and go for the next couple of days. But he does seem to be responding well to family members and is not getting any worse.''

Kaplan, who is bandaged from head to toe, has been able to nod his head and squeeze hands, according to hospital officials.

He will likely undergo skin graft surgery Tuesday, said Larry Weinberg, a hospital spokesman.

``This is one of the most severe burns we've seen in the center in a couple of years,'' Weinberg said.

Family members and friends gathered in the burn center's waiting room Sunday. Grossman said Kaplan's parents were flying into Los Angeles from Massachusetts.

Kaplan is an engineer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

As of Sunday, coroner's officials had not yet identified the badly burned body of the woman who died in Saturday's fiery crash. Her relation to Kaplan was not known.

Kaplan's 1946 single-engine Ercoupe clipped utility wires and a tree before slamming into the converted garage of a home in the 12700 block of Pierce Street shortly before 2:50 p.m., according to the Los Angeles City Fire Department. No one on the ground was injured.

Fire officials said the plane, which just missed a park and recreation center where dozens of children played, was approaching the nearby Whiteman Airpark when it crashed.

Witnesses said the plane was on fire as it fell from the sky and exploded before hitting the converted garage.