Son of La Jolla resident dies in crash

By: MARK WALKER and LOUISE ESOLA - Staff Writers | Tuesday, January 24, 2006 10:12 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD ---- The son of a retired La Jolla businessman and three Idaho residents were identified by a Hailey, Idaho, aviation company as the victims of Tuesday morning's plane crash at McClellan-Palomar Airport.

A Sun Valley Aviation spokesman at the Hailey airport said Frank Jellinek Jr., 60, whose family lives in La Jolla, and fellow passenger Janet Shafran perished, as did pilot Jack Francis and co-pilot Andy Garrett.

The plane left Hailey early Tuesday morning and crashed over the west end of the runway at Palomar Airport at about 6:40 a.m., careening down an embankment before striking a building and erupting in flames.

The spokeswoman at Sun Valley Aviation said the next of kin of each victim had been notified.

The San Diego County medical examiner's office would not confirm the identities released by the aviation company, saying that despite the identifications made in Idaho, it was awaiting dental records before it would issue a confirmation.

Jellinek, a resident of Rye, N.H., ran Apogent Technologies, a manufacturer of laboratory products used in medical diagnostic applications and specimen collection and transportation.

In late 2004, the company merged with Fisher Scientific International of Hampton, N.H., and Jellinek was appointed as chairman emeritus of Fisher.

At the Jellinek family home in La Jolla on Tuesday, neighbors gathered to help console family members.

A large painting of Frank Jellinek Jr. and his twin brother, John, hung near a doorway in view of a dining room table where the neighbors had gathered.

At one point, John Jellinek called the home and asked that reporters not interview their father. He said the family was still grieving the recent loss of their mother and wife of Frank Jellinek Sr., 87.

Shafran was the wife of Steve Shafran, an investment banker with interests in Hong Kong and recent appointee to the City Council in Ketchum, Idaho.

The jet was registered to Goship Air LLC of Ketchum, a company owned by Steve Shafran and another man, Kipp Nelson, a member of the board of the directors of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Foundation.

A call placed to Francis' home in Idaho was not answered.

Melidee Wright, general manager at Sun Valley Aviation, said that Garrett had been working for Coca-Cola in Georgia before going to work in Idaho a few months ago.

A job Web site shows that Jellinek recently sought pilots for the Jellinek Family Trust. The ad sought applicants with experience flying a Piper Meridian or a Citation and said pilots could expect to fly about 250 hours each year.

Kathleen L. Turner, a staff writer for the Wood River Journal in Idaho, contributed to this report. Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com. Contact staff writer Louise Esola at (760) 901-4151 or lesola@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.

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