Last Updated on March 7, 2017 by CCAR Staff
HESPERIA >> The pilot and sole occupant of an ultralight aircraft was killed when it crashed near the Hesperia Airport late Tuesday morning, according to San Bernardino County Fire officials.
The crash was reported about 10 a.m. near the airport located on Summit Valley Road south of Ranchero Road.
The two-seater hobby aircraft crashed in the desert off the north end of the airport about 100 feet west of Santa Fe Avenue East, according to Eric Sherwin, fire department spokesman.
Authorities confirmed the pilot was a man but could not comment on what may have led up to the crash.
Tuesday’s fatal crash comes a little more than a week after three people were killed and two others injured Feb. 27 when a plane took a nosedive into a Riverside neighborhood shortly after takeoff.
The Federal Aviation Administration isn’t investigating the Hesperia crash.
“The aircraft appears to be an unregistered ultralight,” FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said in an emailed statement. “We do not investigate crashes of these aircraft because they don’t have FAA airworthiness certificates and you don’t need a pilot license to fly them.”
However, you can’t fly them over populated areas and you can only fly during daylight hours, Gregor added.
