Aircraft Was On Marketing Flight
ANN REALTIME UPDATE:
03.29.06 2000 EST: Cessna Aircraft has confirmed the plane that
went down at approximately 5 pm Tuesday afternoon near Yucaipa, CA
is a company-owned 208B Caravan, that was flying from Wichita to
California on a marketing trip.
"We were notified by the NTSB last night that a Caravan owned by
Cessna was lost on radar during a flight in California,"
Cessna Vice President of Communications Bob Stangarone
told the Wichita Eagle. "We have reason to believe a Cessna
employee was on board."
National Safety Transportation Board official Paul Schlamm said
authorities have determined the location of the plane, and were on
their way to the site.
Preliminary reports said there were two people on board, Schlamm
said. Stangarone told the Eagle he does not believe the aircraft
was being demonstrated at the time of the accident.
PREVIOUS REPORTS
ANN REALTIME UPDATE
03.29.06 1700 EST: The search continues for a Cessna Caravan that
is believed to have gone down near the San Bernardino-Riverside
county line, east of Los Angeles, CA.
Local CBS-affiliate KCAL-2 reports the aircraft was carrying
three people from Wichita, KS (earlier reports had stated Wichita
Falls, TX) to Ontario, CA, with a stop at Palm Springs
International Airport. Authorities believe the aircraft had just
departed Palm Springs when it went down in the snow-covered
mountains near the Oak Glen Conservation Camp in Yucaipa.
Four inmates at the camp report seeing a plane go down at 5 pm
Tuesday. The men did not see any sign of a crash, although they did
hear an impact, Riverside Fire Department Captain Julie Hutchinson
told CBS-2.
Conditions in the area are not helping search efforts, with
heavy fog and snowfall reported earlier today.
ORIGINAL REPORT
Authorities have resumed their search near Yucaipa, CA for a
Cessna 208B Caravan they believe went down Tuesday.
The aircraft departed Wichita Falls, TX Tuesday afternoon, and
its pilot last communicated with ATC over Thermal, CA, according to
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department spokewoman Robin
Haynal.
The Associated Press reports inmates at the California
Department of Forestry camp in Oak Glen saw a low-flying,
red-and-white Cessna at approximately 5 pm Tuesday.
The inmates told authorities the aircraft appeared to be
experiencing engine trouble, and there were reports they witnessed
the aircraft impact nearby mountains at about 6,000 ft. MSL.
FAA spokesman Allen Kinitzer told the San Bernardino Sun that
ATC lost communication with the pilot of the missing aircraft at
about the same time a Cessna 208B (file photo of type, above) went
missing enroute to Ontario International Airport from Palm
Springs.
Crews searched for the aircraft Tuesday night, but officials
were unable to locate any sign of the missing plane.