VAN NUYS : Pilot Killed in Kern County Crash
A Van Nuys pilot was found dead Friday in the wreckage of his small airplane in southern Kern County about three miles east of Interstate 5, authorities said.
James Robert Clinton, 44, who was headed for Van Nuys Airport from Oakland, was the only person aboard the plane when it went down during a storm about 5:15 p.m. Thursday near Wheeler Ridge at the base of the Grapevine, the Kern County Sheriff’s Department said.
Clinton radioed traffic control at Bakersfield about 5 p.m. Thursday that his wings were icing up, the department said. When the air traffic control officer said the weather was getting worse over the Tehachapi mountain range, the pilot said he would detour to Bakersfield.
Minutes later, the tower lost radar and radio contact with the plane.
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