Two people were killed this weekend when their small Cessna airplane out of Calaveras County crashed just a few miles north of Cherry Lake.
UnionDemocrat.com: “The Sheriff’s Office received a phone call from the Federal Aviation Administration at 6:04 p.m., confirming there was an aircraft down, states a Sheriff’s Office press release.
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said the airplane had been reported missing from Calaveras County Airport.
‘We were getting a signal at our Rescue Coordinator Center in Langley, VA., from the plane’s Emergency Location Transmitter, for most of Friday,’ he said. ‘Local agencies were notified to search for it.’
Gregor said the Emergency Location Transmitter is activated by a crash to start broadcasting a signal pinpointing the airplane’s location.
A helicopter crew found the site near the Cherry Creek Canyon and confirmed two fatalities.
Two helicopter crews, one from Intermountain Helicopter in Columbia and the other from the California Highway Patrol, helped with the search and site security.
Personnel from Yosemite National Park were flown in to guard the site overnight.
Investigators from the FAA, National Transportation Safety Board and Tuolumne County Sheriff Coroner’s office are accessing the area today.