Security Officer Frank Eugene Chaffin

Frank Eugene Chaffin

Security Officer Frank Chaffin was killed in a plane crash in Fresno County while transporting 28 immigrant workers who had been in the country on a one-year contract. The workers were being transported from Oakland, California to the INS detention center in El Centro, California at the expiration of their contract.

The chartered DC-3 was flying at an altitude of approximately 1,500-feet when its right engine caught fire and its wing subsequently fell off. The plane crashed to the ground in Los Gatos Canyon, near Coalinga, killing Officer Chaffin, the three members of the flight crew, and all 28 workers.

A nearby prison work crew rushed to the scene and attempted to extinguish the flames of the wreckage.

Officer Chaffin had served with the United States Department of Justice - Immigration and Naturalization Service - Detention and Deportation for 30 years. He was survived by his wife, two brothers, and two sisters.