UPDATE: Pilot killed when plane crashed near Mountain Center ID’d
UPDATED: May 23, 3 p.m. With coroner’s release of information.
MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. — Officials investigating a fatal plane crash have identified the victim killed when the twin engine plane he was piloting crashed in rugged, mountain terrain Thursday, April 30.
The fatal crash sparked a vegetation fire southwest of Mountain Center and east of Hemet, according to Cal Fire and other officials.
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The pilot, since identified as Paul Mitchell, 27, of Waltham, MA, was the sole-occupant of the plane when it went down.
A coroner’s release indicated today that Mitchell was pronounced deceased at the scene about an hour after the wreck was reported, once officials were able to access the crash site and find the victim’s body.
Mitchell, who fell in love with planes and flying during a plane trip to visit relatives in Jamaica, was just months from realizing his lifelong dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot, according to his brother, Mark.
Paul Mitchell, of Waltham, MA, was killed when a plane he was piloting crashed and burst into flames along a jagged ridge in the San Bernardino National Forest, near Mountain Center. He was the sole occupant in the plane. Photo courtesy Mark Mitchell / Patch
Officials were alerted to the crash after receiving reports of an air emergency around 12:40 p.m., according to Cal Fire officials.
A sheriff’s helicopter was first to arrive in the area and aviation members reported spotting a brush fire burning around a crashed plane, below a jagged section of Blackburn Ridge and within sight of the Bautista Conservation Camp, in the San Bernardino National Forest.
Cal Fire and U.S. Forest Service fire crews that responded to the area staged at the nearby conservation camp, while the sheriff’s helicopter surveyed the crash site searching for any survivors.
None were seen near the downed plane, officials later reported.
Several air tankers and water-dropping helicopters were also summoned to assist with extinguishing the vegetation fire.
Although the air tankers were called off a short time later, the helicopters made several bucket drops on the blaze, which was fully contained by 3 p.m., according to Cal Fire.
Although officials initially reported the fire had burned about five acres, they later updated that “due to better mapping” the size of the fire was downgraded to around a quarter-acre.
After the blaze was extinguished, a Cal Fire helicopter crew ferried firefighters and paramedics to the crash site where they confirmed the pilot was killed in the crash.
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Video filmed from above by Hemet News in a plane flown by Dave Clark, of Clark’s Towing (which can be viewed below) showed firefighters continuing to work around the plane and area that burned.
The plane appeared to have broken into several large pieces upon impact, with the tail section and wings separated from the fuselage; and the fire appeared to have burned uphill from the site of the crash.
Firefighters can be seen continuing to work at the scene of the crash, which burned about a quarter-acre, according to officials. Eddie George/Hemet News photo
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor later confirmed the aircraft was a Piper Aztec and that National Transportation Safety Board investigators were investigating the cause of the deadly crash.
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Trevor Montgomery, 48, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 29 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 16 grandchildren.
Deepest sympathy and many prayers to family and friends. Psalm 121
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