A pilot was killed Tuesday after a plane crashed into a rocky mountain slope near the East County community of Jamul, authorities said.
First responders received a call around 12:40 p.m. from a homeowner in the area who had seen a plane in distress and believed it had crashed near Lyons Peak, Cal Fire Capt. Thomas Shoots said.
After first responders searched by air and on foot, a San Diego County Sheriff's Department helicopter found debris northeast of Lyons Peak in rocky, steep and mountainous terrain, Shoots said. Cal Fire personnel cleared a pathway through vegetation to get to the crash site.
"Unfortunately, based on what we saw on the site, the impact appeared to be quite extreme and the crash did not appear to be survivable," Shoots said.
The plane had apparently burst into many small pieces, Shoots said. Firefighters were not able to identify the aircraft.
Firefighters also found human remains, confirming that at least one person had died in the crash, Shoots said.
Authorities from Gillespie Field, a county airport in El Cajon, told Cal Fire that one aircraft is missing: a small, experimental plane that had one pilot on board. Cal Fire has not been able to confirm whether the crashed plane was the missing aircraft, Shoots said.
Cal Fire turned the crash site over to sheriff's deputies, who are securing the scene until the National Transportation Safety Board can conduct a formal investigation, Shoots said.
The FAA has been notified of the crash, authorities said.
Staff writer Karen Kucher contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.
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