A twin-engine Gulfstream AC95 crashed in the San Bernardino Mountains on Saturday evening, April 13, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Authorities Sunday afternoon said the body of a man was found in the wreckage.
There was a “significant debris field” in the area north of Palm Avenue and Verdemont Drive, and east of the 215 Freeway and Kendall Drive, San Bernardino Police Sgt. Christopher Gray said.
The crash happened around 8:15 p.m. The search for survivors was hampered by the rainy weather and difficult terrain.
It wasn’t known how many people were aboard the plane, where it was flying from or where it was headed.
The crash site is about a dozen miles northwest of San Bernardino International Airport in the sheriff department’s jurisdiction, officials said Sunday.
“Last night about 8:21, witnesses reported hearing an engine sputter and then an impact. A red light flash was seen in the area. Our airship was unable to fly because of weather,” Gloria Huerta, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, said in a statement on Sunday morning.
Members of a search and rescue team were hoisted down a mountain, she said, and were attempting to hike down to the debris field, north of Devil Canyon.
In a Sunday afternoon statement, the Sheriff’s Department said: “Due to the terrain, Search and Rescue department members were deployed and assisted an investigator from the Coroner’s Office to the debris field. A deceased adult male was located.”
It wasn’t immediately known if the man could have been the pilot.
The name of the man was not immediately released pending positive identification and notification of family.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, the FAA said Sunday.
This is a developing story. More information will be added as it becomes available.
