PILOT WHO DIED IN JET COLLISION IS IDENTIFIED.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin and Dana Bartholomew Staff Writers

CANYON COUNTRY - The pilot who died when his vintage plane crashed into a Canyon Country mobile home park was identified Monday by friends as Dan Lavigna, a respected Tarzana doctor and energetic airplane enthusiast.

The 62-year-old anesthesiologist, one of the pioneer doctors of the Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, was killed Sunday afternoon when his 1953 jet nose-dived into a mobile home and destroyed or damaged four others. One man on the ground suffered minor injuries.

Lavigna's colleagues and friends were devastated.

``People are just completely shocked and grief stricken - the whole place is hardly functioning today,'' said Dr. Gary Nitti, chairman of the Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center division of anesthesiology.

``This is a tragic loss because he was a husband and a parent,'' said Douglas Gilliss of San Diego, a fellow vintage=jet flier and friend of Lavigna's for the past three years. ``He was a professional physician, a leader in the jet community and an all-around good person to be around. He was the epitome of ethics and responsibility.''

Lavigna, a father of four, lived in Tarzana with his wife and their two children. In his free time, he was an avid pilot and the director of the Classic Jet Aircraft Association.

``He was a great friend to have - I just can't believe that he's not there,'' Gilliss said. ``I talked to him Saturday.''

An air of sadness hung over the doctor's Tarzana hilltop home Monday, where Lavigna's wife, teenage son and adolescent daughter were too distraught for words. In front of their rock-clad house of 12 years stood two harvest scarecrows.

``He was an excellent pilot; something went wrong,'' said a family friend, breaking into tears. ``He wouldn't have wanted this to happen to anybody.''

Neighbors said they were in shock over the death of the good-looking doctor, family man and father who liked nothing better than to talk about airplanes.

Especially airplanes.

``This is a terrible tragedy,'' said Eileen Brownstein, 72, who lives with her husband Abe two doors up the street from the Lavignas. ``He was a very nice guy and a very good neighbor.''

The Brownsteins said Lavigna invited them to a hangar party at Van Nuys Airport following the birth of his youngest daughter.

``He took up the baby (that night) to indoctrinate her into flying,'' said Abe Brownstein, 80. ``He was always asking us to go flying with him.''

At Van Nuys Airport, colleagues expressed sadness for the veteran pilot who rented two hangars for his vintage jets, one at the south end of the runway for his T-33 Silver Star, another at the north end for a Hawker Hunter.

``He always kept his airplanes nice; that T-33 was a show airplane,'' said Mark Sullivan, owner of Skytrails Aviation, which leased Lavigna a hangar. ``He took it out to a lot of different shows.

``I feel sorry because I've seen his kids with him - it's sad.''

At both the Encino and Tarzana campuses of the medical center, doctors and nurses wore black ribbons Monday to commemorate the anesthesiologist who always gave a quick smile and a friendly greeting.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, both investigating the crash, said no conclusions had been reached on the cause of the incident.

``We're still trying to extricate wreckage,'' Howard Plagens, a senior investigator for the NTSB, said Monday.

FAA reports indicate that Lavigna departed from the Van Nuys Airport at 3:47 p.m. on his way to the Agua Dulce area, where he planned to turn around and return to Van Nuys, according to Don Walker, a spokesman for the FAA.

Lavigna's plane went down at 3:55 p.m.

His jet, a silver 1953 Canadair T-33 Silver Star, was one of the first jets ever built and one of only a handful of the vintage planes in the state.

Nicholas Grudin, [phone]

nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com