A California family’s weekend flight ended in tragedy when a small plane crashed near Fresno’s Sierra Sky Park, killing flight instructor Danna Eady, 41, and her two young sons, while her husband survived with critical injuries.

Eady, from Auberry, California, was identified as the adult woman who died after suffering severe injuries in the Sept. 5 crash. Two children were pronounced dead at the scene, while another adult passenger remained critically injured.

According to friends and family accounts reported by The Post, the children were identified as Pavel, 10, and Remus, 13. Eady also leaves behind two older children, Lucien, 17, and Felicity, 18.

The family was reportedly traveling to an airshow when the single-engine aircraft went down near the San Joaquin River.

A Mother Who Loved to Fly
For those who knew Eady, aviation was more than a career.

She was a flight instructor at Reedley College and was active in the local aviation community. She also served as president of Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 376, which lists her as its current president.

Friend and fellow flight instructor Nick Wilcox remembered her as a warm, adventurous person who brought energy to the people around her.

“She was a very special soul,” Wilcox told The Post.

He said Eady was passionate about flying and had quickly built an impressive aviation career after becoming a pilot.

Her dream, he said, was to fly.

And that passion ultimately became a defining part of her life.

A Devastating Scene
The crash happened Saturday afternoon near the northern end of Blythe Avenue, close to Sierra Sky Park.

Emergency crews arrived to find the fixed-wing aircraft burning on a bluff overlooking the San Joaquin River.

Firefighters managed to extinguish the flames before the fire could spread to nearby homes. The crash also briefly disrupted electricity for surrounding residents.

The two children died at the scene.

Eady and the other adult passenger were taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Eady later succumbed to her injuries.

Her husband, Craig, survived but suffered serious injuries, according to friends and a family fundraising page.

A Family Now Facing an Unimaginable Loss
A fundraiser established for the Eady family says Craig faces a long recovery involving surgeries, rehabilitation and ongoing medical treatment.

The campaign is intended to help with his medical care, household expenses and other costs following the crash.

For Eady’s surviving children, the tragedy means facing life without their mother and two younger brothers.

For the aviation community, it means losing a woman who had become a familiar and respected presence in the skies around Fresno.

The Questions Left Behind
The cause of the crash remains unknown.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating what caused the aircraft to go down. Authorities have secured the crash site while investigators examine the wreckage and other evidence.

For now, friends are remembering Eady not simply for the tragedy that ended her life, but for the life she built before it — as a mother, instructor, pilot and woman who chased her dream of flying.

She loved aviation.

She taught others to fly.

And according to those who knew her, she brought that same sense of adventure into nearly everything she did.

Now, the people who loved her are left to remember her from the ground.

Course: NY Post