Actor and flight instructor Guy Kapulnik was killed alongside a passenger when the small plane he was piloting crashed into a field in Southern California.
Kapulnik, 46, and Taylor Laska, 33, died when the single-engine aircraft went down near Hesperia on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 24.
Emergency crews were called to the area of Summit Valley Road and Telephone Canyon Road shortly before 10 a.m. following reports of an aircraft crash.
When deputies and firefighters arrived, they discovered the wreckage of the plane in an open, shrub-covered area.
Kapulnik and Laska were pronounced dead at the scene.
The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office later identified Kapulnik, a Los Angeles resident, as the pilot and Laska, who lived in Santa Monica, as his passenger.
Federal officials identified the aircraft as a single-engine Aeronca Champion.
The plane was reportedly owned by Midfield Aviation, an aviation company based in nearby Apple Valley.
Exactly what caused the aircraft to go down remains unclear.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have launched investigations into the crash. Federal aviation officials have so far listed the circumstances surrounding the accident as unknown.
Investigators are expected to examine the aircraft wreckage, maintenance history, weather conditions, flight information and other evidence as they attempt to determine what went wrong.
For Kapulnik, aviation had become a major part of a life that already included acting, military service and a passion for adventure.
The 46-year-old had been living in Los Angeles in recent years, where he worked as a pilot and flight instructor while continuing his connection to the entertainment industry.
His acting credits included the films “Room 514,” “Salsa Tel Aviv,” “Watch Over Me” and the acclaimed Israeli war drama “Lebanon.”
Kapulnik studied acting at the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in Jerusalem and also studied at the Technion in Haifa.
Long before his acting and aviation careers, he served as an officer in Unit 669, the Israeli Air Force’s elite combat search-and-rescue unit.
His family remembered him as someone who constantly sought new experiences and refused to limit himself to a single path in life.
“Guy was a man of action, curiosity, and adventure,” his family said in a tribute following his death.
They remembered a life that moved between acting, aviation and the sea, saying he repeatedly pursued the things he loved.
Friends and former students have also begun sharing tributes to Kapulnik, remembering him not only as an actor but as an enthusiastic pilot and teacher.
Kapulnik was originally from Karmei Yosef, a community in central Israel, before eventually making his home in California.
He leaves behind his wife and three children.
His death has prompted an outpouring of grief from people who knew him through his acting career as well as those who encountered him through aviation.
Little information has been publicly released about Laska beyond authorities identifying her as a 33-year-old Santa Monica resident.
Officials have also not publicly explained why the two were flying together or where the aircraft was headed before the crash.
The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not announced any evidence suggesting what caused the plane to suddenly go down.
A preliminary investigation may provide more information about the aircraft’s final moments, although a complete determination of the probable cause of an aviation accident can take significantly longer.
For Kapulnik’s family, the crash brought an abrupt end to a life they described as driven by curiosity, creativity and a determination to keep pursuing new adventures.