Police Suspect Suicide in Crash of Small Plane

Monterey Park police believe that last weekend’s fatal crash of a single-engine plane into a house was intentional, after discovering that the pilot had left his wife a suicide note several days earlier.

Miltiadis Alexiadis, 32, of Lancaster, was pronounced dead shortly before 7 p.m. last Saturday after his Piper 28 aircraft struck a house in the 1000 block of Brightwood Street, leaving debris over a two-block area. There were no injuries to anyone on the ground.

Monterey Park Deputy Police Chief Daniel Cross said Alexiadis had left his wife a note on Feb. 27, three days before the crash and 11 days after disappearing from their home. In the note, he told his wife goodby, informed her he had left her some money in the trunk of his car and left instructions for the disposal of his body after his death.

The wife filed a missing-person report and the suicide note with the Antelope Valley sheriff’s station. Sheriff’s deputies notified officials at Santa Monica Municipal Airport, where Alexiadis kept his plane.

Santa Monica Airport Director Jeff Mathieu said Alexiadis was seen at the airport Saturday morning and was delayed until police arrived to talk to him. After talking with him for 30 to 45 minutes, police allowed Alexiadis to take off.

Cross said the police could not have known conclusively that the man was mentally unstable.

“Once they make up their mind that they’re going to take their life, a calm comes across them,� he said. “This is a judgment call. We make these types of decisions every single day in a law enforcement officer’s life.�

Monterey Park City Councilman Fred Balderrama, who is a pilot, said he was “infuriated� that Santa Monica police did not detain the pilot. He is demanding that the Santa Monica Police Department apologize to the owner of the damaged homes.

“This guy could have killed somebody,� Balderrama said. “This idiot wanted to make a big splash when he went. He decided to take people with him. They were very lucky no one was hurt.�

Balderrama said he doubted the incident was an accident because the pilot had been circling in the air.

“Us pilots know if you’re running out of gas you don’t land on top of houses. If I had mechanical problems I wouldn’t circle. I would head for an airport or a freeway where I could land.�

Santa Monica police officials could not be reached for comment.

Officials at the National Transportation Safety Board, which is conducting the investigation of the crash, have not determined what caused the crash and would not comment.