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. 

FMI: www.faa.gov