Last Updated on May 15, 2021 by CCAR Staff
A pilot and passenger were alert and talking with firefighters after the small plane they were traveling in crashed into the side of a mountain, near houses in the Cedar Glen area of the San Bernardino Mountains on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.
Several residents called 911 after watching the plane go down near their homes, San Bernardino County Fire Department officials said. Firefighters and deputies were dispatched to the crash site in the area of Torrey Road and Blackwood Drive, east of Lake Arrowhead and near Mackay Park, about 3 p.m. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said.
The two occupants of the Cessna were traveling from Chino to Big Bear City, said Elizabeth Cory of the Federal Aviation Administration. The pilot reported losing power at an altitude of about 8,500 feet, and was attempting to navigate to Snow Valley before crashing, National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Chris O’Neil said.
Air traffic control lost radio contact with the plane just before 3:15 p.m., Cory said. What caused the loss of power wasn’t immediately known. The FAA and NTSB will investigate the cause of the crash.
Firefighters had to cut a path through tall brush to reach the two people inside the damaged single-engine Cessna 210, which went down between two access roads in rough terrain, firefighters said. The patients were taken to a nearby trauma center. Details regarding the severity of their injuries were not immediately available.
Between 15 and 20 gallons of fuel leaked out of the plane after the crash. Hazardous materials specialists were summoned to mop up flammable substances that might have seeped into the soil, while additional crews form the U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire stood by in case any wound up igniting.
