Rebuilt 1940s-era plane stolen, burned, used for scrap, owner says

Authorities recovered an oversized Airstream trailer, which housed a vintage single-engine aircraft, both of which were stolen from a warehouse parking lot in Torrance in a theft that was caught on surveillance cameras earlier this month.

The brazen heist occurred on Jan. 3 in the 22800 block of Lockness Avenue near Sepulveda Boulevard.

Security footage captured the moment a suspect driving a white truck pulled up, hitched the Airstream trailer to their vehicle and hauled it away with the 1940s-era two-seat Piper PA-15/17 plane inside.

“I’m pretty devastated,” the plane’s owner and flight instructor, Anis Pradhan, said. “They broke a lock pad on the gate, opened the gate and they came in and just pulled it out of there.”

For more than a decade, Pradhan has been meticulously rebuilding the vintage aircraft. It was not only his passion but was meant to be used for training underprivileged children who aspired to be pilots in his home country of Nepal as part of a nonprofit effort.

“I’ve spent so many hours, thousands of hours, putting this aircraft together and in a matter of minutes, it just disappeared,” he said of the U.S. built plane.

The aircraft, which was uninsured because it was in storage, measured 22 feet in length, 35 feet in width and weighed over 1,000 pounds. It had wings that folded up, allowing it to be stored in the custom-built trailer.

Authorities discovered the burnt-out trailer at Daisy Avenue and 17^th Street overnight. It had been completely dismantled and destroyed, with the classic airplane that was stored inside the trailer gone.

However, in photos obtained by KTLA, the 1940’s-era Vagabond plane had been inside the trailer and appeared to have been burned down to the frame along with it. According to witnesses, the remains of the plane were then hauled away by three suspects between Jan. 9-12.

“I was informed of it’s location by an anonymous person that works in the area, who sent photos of the trailer before it had been scrapped but after it had burned,” Pradhan said in a GofundMe organized to get a new plane. “By the time the informant found how to contact me, it had already been scrapped.”

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KTLA is awaiting confirmation on these details from the police department, but those with knowledge of the custom trailer and vintage aircraft said that along with the 4 rebuilt engines, four propellers and vintage spare parts stolen and destroyed, the loss is valued at around $250,000.

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