2 killed when small plane crashes in Sequoia National Park

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — A pilot and his passenger were killed when a small plane crashed in Sequoia National Park, authorities said Saturday.

The plane, a Beechcraft BE35 Bonanza, left Visalia Municipal Airport around 11 a.m. Friday, the Visalia Times-Delta reported. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane’s destination was Needles Airport in San Bernardino County, located near the Nevada border and the Mojave Desert, the newspaper reported.

The pilot and passenger’s names have not been released by authorities.

The Sequoia parks’ helitack team found the aircraft shortly after 8 a.m., according to the National Park Service. The aircraft was last seen in the Upper Horse Creek drainage in Mineral King wilderness area, according to a news release Saturday evening.

“Early this morning, Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks dispatch received a report from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center of an overdue flight,” Sintia Kawasaki-Yee, a public affairs spokesperson for the national parks, said in a statement. “A park team flew out to the coordinates provided and located the site of an aircraft crash.”

A small fire associated with the crash was contained by Sequoia National Park personnel, according to Bakersfield Now.

The cause of the crash is being investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Cox Media Group