Massive Search for Missing Plane Locates Wreckage, Body in Mountains Above Pasadena

A plane gone missing in the mountainous Angeles National Forest north of Pasadena early Sunday morning prompted a massive all-day ground search that ended with the discovery of its wreckage and the body of the pilot.

FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the plane had been en route from Montgomery Field in San Diego to Santa Monica.  Ground controllers lost contact with the plane at about 8:30 a.m. when it was 17 miles east of Van Nuys Airport.

There is no known reason why the plane was so far off a direct course to Santa Monica.

On Sunday at approximately 9:00 a.m., LASD Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) Emergency Services Detail (ESD) first received information of a possible downed aircraft near Mount Wilson in the Angeles National Forest from United States Air Force controllers.

At approximately 9:25 a.m. the Altadena and Montrose Search and Rescue Teams were activated and, along with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, responded. However, due to the very steep and rugged terrain and poor, zero visibility weather conditions that hindered a conclusive aerial search, four additional LASD Search and Rescue Teams comprising of the Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita, Sierra Madre and San Dimas, were requested to help in what would be a massive primary ground search of the missing plane.

All six search and rescue teams utilized “direction finding equipment” during the ground search where heavy brush continuously reigned against the visibility of the approximate 50 volunteers and reserve deputies hiking through the treacherous terrain.

It was not until later in the day, at approximately 4 p.m., after some of the fog and clouds had cleared, that Air Rescue 5 was able to conduct an aerial search, locating the downed aircraft at approximately 5:20 p.m., on the south side of Brown Mountain, on a rugged cliff side, approximately four miles north of Altadena.

Air Rescue 5 lowered two ESD paramedics from the helicopter. They used rope systems to secure themselves on the side of the mountain to search the area and determined a man, the plane’s sole occupant, was deade and his body was in the wreckage.

LASD’s Aero Bureau accident investigators, in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

Pending identification by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner – Coroner and notification of next of kin, the identity of the deceased will not be released.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Aero Bureau at (562) 421-2701. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org/