4 Killed in Plane Crash Near Bishop

BISHOP, Calif. — A small plane that took off from Lake Tahoe crashed Monday in the Sierra Nevada about 16 miles southwest of this city, killing the four people on board, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The plane was en route to Santa Ana, although no flight plan had been filed, FAA Operations Officer Larri Frelow said.

Authorities don’t know why or exactly when it crashed, she said.

The area’s Civil Air Patrol picked up a signal Tuesday from the plane’s emergency locator transmitter and found the wreckage in a remote region about 10,000 feet high, said Dave Buck, chief deputy coroner for Inyo County.

It could be several days before authorities are able to remove the bodies because of the remote location, Buck said.

Ted Lopatkiewicz, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said federal investigators were on the way to the crash site Tuesday evening.

The Rockwell International 114, a fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft, is registered to Steven and Nancy Meissel of Mission Viejo, and to VYSYM Corp. of Irvine.

The names of those killed are not known.