A deadly airplane crash in northwest Fresno over Labor Day weekend killed four members of a family — a wife, a husband and two young children.
Danna Eady and her husband, Craig Eady, were found outside the plane wreckage near Sierra Sky Park and taken to a hospital, where they both died from their injuries in the days following the crash. The couple’s two youngest sons, Remus and Pavel, were pronounced deceased at the scene.
The identities of the parents were confirmed by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office while the children’s identities have been confirmed by family and friends on social media.
First responders found the fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft near the runway of the public-use airport attached to a residential neighborhood in northwest Fresno just before 2 p.m. Saturday.
The couple, both 41 years old, lived in the community of Auberry in the eastern Fresno County foothills. They have two other older children who were not in the crash: Lucien, 17, and Felicity, 18, according to family fundraising efforts.
The aftermath of a plane crash at 7300 block of N. Blythe Avenue in which four people, including two children, were killed. Tony Botti Fresno County Sheriff’s Office
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said the city is ready to do whatever it can to help in a statement released Tuesday.
“There are no words that can adequately express the heartbreak of losing Craig and Danna Eady and their two young sons,” Dyer said. “Our entire community is grieving with the Eady family, especially the two surviving children who are facing an unimaginable loss.”
Friends of the Eady family launched a support fundraiser that had raised over $73,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
“The Eadys have lost so much. Let’s come together as a community and help carry them through what comes next,” the campaign says.
Danna Eady was a certified flight instructor at Reedley College. The university canceled flight sciences classed Tuesday and made counseling available to students and staff.
“Danna was a valued member of our Flight Science Department and a tremendous certified flight instructor,” Reedley College President Jerry Buckley said in a news release. “We will miss her greatly.”
Danna Eady was also the founder and owner of Meraki Aviation, an aircraft rental and flight instruction company, and served as vice president of Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 376, according to a LinkedIn profile.
Photo of Reedley College flight instructor Danna Eady, 41, taken during a pinning ceremony on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. Eady was killed in plane crash on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. Reedley College
Little information has been released on the details of the crash. It’s being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, but it will likely take up to year.
The crash burned five acres of land along the San Joaquin River.
Danna Eady and her husband, Craig Eady, were found outside the plane wreckage near Sierra Sky Park and taken to a hospital, where they both died from their injuries in the days following the crash. The couples two young sons were pronounced deceased on the scene Saturday afternoon. Credit: The Eady Family support campaign 
A blackened hillside, lower left, between Milburn Pond and the Sierra Sky Park Airport in northwest Fresno shows where a vegetation fire was started after a plane crashed near the airport on Saturday, killing the four occupants aboard. Sierra Sky Park, photographed on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, is described as the world’s first residential fly-in aviation community CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com 
A sign on Herndon Avenue near Blythe in northwest Fresno denotes Sierra Sky Park is described as the world’s first residential fly-in aviation community. Photographed on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
This story was originally published September 8, 2026 at 1:58 PM.
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