FATAL PLANE CRASH UPDATE: Feds, Sheriff's Department, Coroner Release More Details on Incident Near Desert Center

Update 5:20 p.m. A single-engine aircraft that crashed Monday near the First Solar energy site outside Desert Center, resulting in two fatalities, was being moved Tuesday to an undisclosed location, where an NTSB investigator will examine it Wednesday, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board tells Patch.


"We will be reviewing the crew's flying history, log books, medical records and maintenance records of the aircraft," Keith Holloway of the NTSB said in an email following a phone interview. "We are collecting information regarding the purpose of flight."

The registered owner of the crashed plane, a 1971 model Grumman AA-1A Yankee, is identified in FAA records as Michael C. Cyr of Blythe. Coroner's officials have tentatively identified the two crash victims as Blythe residents and next of kin has been contacted in both cases, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Posted 12:19 p.m. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department and Coroner's Division released more details Tuesday about the Monday crash of a small plane near Desert Center that killed both men on board.

At 1:26 p.m. Aug. 26, a Colorado River Station deputy and a Bureau of Land Management ranger were patrolling the Desert Center area "when they witnessed a small plane flying out of control and crash . . . east of Kaiser Road between Lake Tamarisk and the First Solar energy site," sheriff's Sgt. Thomas Velarde said in a statement.

The plane was a 1971 Model AA-1A fixed wing with a single engine and it was occupied by two people who died as a result of the crash, Velarde said.

Personnel from Cal-Fire, Colorado River Station, BLM, the Coroner's Office, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Federal Aviation Administration responded to investigate the crash, Velarde said.

Coroner's personnel identified both deceased occupants of the plane as men.

The pilot was identified a 41-year-old resident of Blythe. His next of kin has been notified but his name was withheld pending positive identification, coroner's personnel said.

The passenger was identified as a 35-year-old resident of Blythe. His next of kin has been notified but his name was withheld pending positive identification, coroner's personnel said.

The coroner listed time of injury for both men as 1:30 p.m. and time of death as 1:42 p.m.

The cause of the crash was being investigated by the NTSB and FAA. Anyone with more info about this investigation was urged to call Colorado River Station investigators at (760) 921-7900.