Pilot killed in Beverly Crest aircraft crash identified
A man who was killed in the crash of a small, single-engine airplane in the Beverly Crest area over the weekend was identified Monday as a Woodland Hills resident.
Alon Inditzky, 38, was killed in the crash that occurred about 8:10 p.m. Saturday near the 3000 block of Beverly Glen Circle, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office. The pilot was the lone occupant of the Cessna aircraft, authorities said earlier.
Federal air traffic controllers had asked the Los Angeles Fire Department to "check a large swath of mountainous territory near Stone Canyon Road and Mulholland Drive," just east of the San Diego Freeway, after they lost radar contact with the airplane, fire officials said.
Fire officials initially said the aircraft was believed to be traveling between the Santa Monica and Van Nuys airports. A representative of the National Transportation Safety Board later said the flight had originated in the Palm Springs area and was bound for Camarillo, but the pilot had diverted to Van Nuys Airport, crashing a short time later.
"There were no 9-1-1 calls reporting any related sights or sounds," according to the fire department. "LAFD helicopters and ground crews searched the large fog-shrouded region for nearly an hour before an LAFD helicopter localized a signal from an aircraft Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon in the vicinity (believed within a quarter-mile) of Beverly Glen Terrace and Beverly Glen Boulevard."
Dense fog and steep terrain prolonged the search, reducing visibility to about 50 feet, witnesses said. Crews finally reported finding the aircraft at 11:20 p.m. Saturday.
More than four dozen LAFD ground personnel systematically searched through thick ground-level fog and rugged terrain north of Mulholland Drive in the Beverly Crest area where the aircraft's emergency beacon was observed, the department said.
A pair of LAFD helicopters provided command support in the foggy skies.
"The tireless search by LAFD ground crews has located the single-engine airplane upon a steep hillside that includes a large water tank (not damaged), above a home (on the 3000 block of Beverly Glen Circle)," LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey said. "LAFD responders have discovered one person deceased at the scene. No other persons were believed aboard."
Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers at the Van Nuys, Burbank Airport and Los Angeles International airports, as well as the U.S. Air Force and the pilot's cellular telephone carrier all assisted in locating the airplane.
The cause of the crash was under investigation.
