Efforts will resume Monday to recover the body of a man whose small airplane crashed near Altadena in the Angeles National Forest, authorities said.
The name of the pilot was withheld pending family notification, said Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
The white Cessna 182 aircraft with blue stripes was located at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the 4,000-foot level about four miles north of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Sgt. M. Zager of the sheriff’s Air Operations Bureau said. The low fog made it difficult to find the aircraft, he said, adding that sheriff’s department helicopters were up intermittently Sunday afternoon. Recovery efforts were suspended Sunday evening.
The plane crashed into a rugged cliff side of Brown Mountain, Navarro- Suarez said.
Authorities received a report about 8:20 a.m. Sunday of the plane’s disappearance, Capt. Bill Song of the sheriff’s Crescenta Valley station said.
Radar data from Flightaware.com showed that the plane departed at 7:37 a.m. Sunday from Montgomery Field in San Diego and was apparently in an approach pattern to Santa Monica Airport when it flew in a straight line to the northeast. The crash scene was determined to be 35 miles northeast of Santa Monica.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the plane had been en route from Montgomery Field to Santa Monica on an instrument flight plan. It lost contact with ground controllers at about 8:30 a.m. when it was 17 miles east of Van Nuys Airport. Initial information indicated the aircraft was down near Mount Wilson, Navarro-Suarez said.
The Altadena and Montrose Search and Rescue Teams were activated and responded with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, she said. Additional sheriff’s search and rescue teams from Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita, Sierra Madre and San Dimas were called in to take part in a massive ground search because foggy conditions hindered the air search, she said.
The rescue teams used direction-finding equipment on the ground where heavy brush and fog hindered the searchers — about 50 volunteers and reserve deputies who hiked through rough terrain, Navarro-Suarez said.
The sheriff’s department was in contact with the National Transportation Safety Board and “working on a recovery plan,” Zager said.
The Cessna’s tail number was N133BW, and FAA records indicate it was owned by a San Diego company.
The NTSB and FAA will investigate, Kenitzer said. So will the sheriff’s Aero Bureau.
–City News Service