Pilot who died in Santa Fe crash was noted Los Angeles plastic surgeon

Jul. 19—The man who died when his twin-engine plane crashed Tuesday morning into a Santa Fe home, setting it ablaze, was a noted Los Angeles plastic surgeon who had been flying for decades.

New Mexico State Police identified the pilot as 72-year-old Randolph Sherman. A media spokesman for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles confirmed Sherman worked for the hospital.

Sherman died after crashing just after 9 a.m. into a double-wide mobile home on Agua de Oro, just south of the Downs at Santa Fe. There was no one in the home at the time of the crash.

Sherman had just departed Santa Fe Regional Airport and was heading toward California when he notified the air traffic control tower he was experiencing a left engine failure, according to a news release state police issued Wednesday afternoon. He crashed shortly thereafter, police said. The cause of the crash is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Canyon News in Beverly Hills reported details of the flight's final moments provided by air traffic control. After Sherman radioed he was experiencing engine failure, the control tower advised him to "make a left turn to runway 33."

Sherman responded, "Roger, 5-1 Charlie."

After the tower said Sherman could use any runway he wanted, Sherman responded, "Let me get some altitude." After repeating he was having trouble with one engine, the tower radioed, "Runway 33 is just off your left side, that might be the closest one for you. [Runway] 2 is a little bit further to the north, but your choice."

A second later, the control tower said, "Crash Rescue 1. Appears the aircraft is down, but well off the field — about two miles off the approach end. I can't tell exactly where it is, but there is a large plume of smoke."

A 1994 Los Angeles Times profile of Sherman, who was working at the time out of what was then called USC University Hospital and teaching at the college's School of Medicine, said he often volunteered for Operation Smile, which has been sending teams of international medical professionals to countries where children were born with cleft lips or palates since the 1980s.

The article said Sherman first got hooked on flying while reading The Little Prince in the third grade. "Flying is extraordinarily romantic," Sherman told the Los Angeles Times reporter — who noted his subject was clad in a brown leather bomber jacket, goggles and a World War I-era flying cap.

"When you are out over the Pacific, and the sun is low in the sky and you are cruising along at 2,500 feet, and the wind is in your face. ... Well, I mean what's better than that?" Sherman said.

Sherman said in the article there was nothing like "standing on the runway right before dawn, getting ready to get into the airplane to go to Vancouver or Anchorage or Mexico or even San Bernardino. A runway is that kind of magic door."

Sherman began taking flying lessons after long shifts that were part of his surgical residence at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center.

Sherman grew up in Clayton, Mo., according to the article. His father died when he was a baby, and his mother, Pearl, raised Sherman and his two brothers.

He attended the University of Rochester and the University of Missouri Medical School, where he earned his medical degree, before undergoing surgical training in California and New York, according to an online bio of Sherman posted on the Commemorative Air Force, Southern California Wing website.

Sherman served as director of development for the wing. He also served on the board of Santa Monica's Museum of Flying. The museum was closed Wednesday and representatives could not be reached for comment.

Sherman's nose was broken repeatedly when he played football in college, according to the Los Angeles Times article. It noted the mashed-in nose sometimes caused problems for a man who was supposed to be an expert at fixing facial deformities.

Once, Sherman said in the article, a woman came in for a consultation and noticed his knobby nose. When she asked him why he didn't have his nose done, he joked, "I did, I had my nose done about four times on the football field."

The woman, clearly not amused, did not book an appointment with Sherman.

Cedars-Sinai said in a news release Wednesday that Sherman "developed highly regarded clinical, research and training programs in plastic surgery in Los Angeles" and held "several distinguished positions at Cedars-Sinai, including vice chair of the Department of Surgery and director of the Division of Plastic Surgery."

"Randy was a loyal and generous friend and teacher. He will be missed for his contributions to the field of surgery and for his impact on so many of us who benefitted from his great talent, leadership and compassion," Cristina Ferrone, chair of the department of surgery at the hospital, said in the news release.