Pilot in Mountain Airplane Crash North of Pasadena Identified by Authorities

Los Angeles County Coroner officials said Tuesday that the man who died in the crash of a Cessna 182 in the mountains north of Pasadena on Sunday morning was San Diego doctor Thomas C. Bruff, 57,

Media reports cited Bruff’s inclusion in the Federal Aviation Administration’s 2013 Airmen Certification Database, which is only awarded to pilots who have met or exceeded FAA educational, licensing and medical standards.

Recovery of Bruff’s body by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopter crews was hampered all Monday by weather. Ultimately, his remains were retrieved about 50 to 75 feet from the aircraft’s charred wreckage by Air 5 on Tuesday, Deputy Dan Paige of the Altadena Station said.

The wreck was located at the 4,000 foot elevation on  rugged cliffside of Brown Mountain, Paige said.

The plane was traveling from Montgomery Field Airport in San Diego to Santa Monica Municipal Airport when it lost contact with controllers 17 miles east of Van Nuys at about 8:25 a.m. Sunday, according to a Federal Aviation Authority spokesman.

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

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was notified at approximately 9:00 a.m. that morning, prompted a massive all-day ground search that ended with the discovery of the wreckage and the body of the pilot.

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 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.