Search For Altadena Plane Crash Site Delayed
ALTADENA (CBSLA.com) — Authorities were set to resume their efforts Monday to recover the body of a man whose small airplane crashed near Altadena in the Angeles National Forest, but fog continues to delay the search.
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 Operation 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 night.
The plane was first reported to have disappeared at about 8:20 a.m. Sunday, sheriff's Capt. Bill Song said.
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, Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez of the Sheriff's Information Bureau said.
The plane crashed into a rugged Cliffside of Brown Mountain, she said.
Several search teams, volunteers and aircraft were deployed to find the wreckage, but the foggy conditions – both in the air and on the ground -- hindered the search.
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 name of the pilot was withheld pending family notification, Navarro-Suarez said.
The NTSB and FAA will investigate, Kenitzer said, along with the sheriff's Aero Bureau.
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