Pilot Rescued After Crash on Mountain

A 22-year-old pilot who survived a mountainside plane crash near Pine Valley was rescued Tuesday morning by a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department search party.

Mark Farrar of Chula Vista was taken by a sheriff’s helicopter to Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, where he was listed in good condition. Farrar suffered facial fractures, a hospital spokeswoman said.

No one else was aboard the Cessna 150, Sheriff’s Spokesman George Hinshaw said.

According to an FAA spokesman, Farrar had taken off on a local flight about 4:30 p.m. Monday from Brown Field, where he worked at Mustang Aviation as a mechanic and gas truck driver.

Pilot Not Found

The plane crashed into a 4,500-foot mountain in the Guatay Peak area of Pine Valley, about 50 miles east of San Diego.

The wreckage of the plane was spotted by a sheriff’s helicopter shortly before 1 a.m., but the flier wasn’t there. The sheriff’s helicopter that found the plane was tracking an emergency locater signal first heard about 6 p.m., authorities said.

The discovery of blood splattered wreckage Monday night raised concerns about the condition of the missing flier.

Early Tuesday morning, about 40 members of the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, along with several Border Patrol trackers, mountain rescue team members, mounted police and police dogs searched for Farrar.

He was found at 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, 10 hours after the crash. He had crawled about a mile from the wreckage of his single-engine plane, sheriff’s deputies said.

“He is a lucky character,” an FAA spokesman said. “He could have frozen to death with the cold temperatures. He was banged up pretty badly . . . .”

The cause of the crash is under investigation.