No One Reported Missing, So Search for Glider Pilot Halted

Rescue crews halted a search Saturday for a hang glider seen flying into a rugged area of the Angeles National Forest near the Mountain High ski resort, authorities said.

The search, which began Friday evening and continued all night, was concluded at 8:45 a.m. after sheriff’s deputies found no sign of the flier in a heavily wooded area west of the ski resort and south of California 2, Deputy Detta Roberts said.

“They couldn’t find anything. Since no family members reported anyone missing, they decided everything was OK,” Roberts said.

Witnesses told deputies that they saw the hang glider about 5:10 p.m. Friday, flying over the back side of Mountain High, about 40 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, Deputy Chris Wahla said.

At first, searchers were unsure whether the hang glider was lost in the mountains or whether the pilot had landed safely and simply returned home, Wahla said.

Two helicopters, one equipped with a heat-seeking device, seven deputies with the Antelope Valley Search and Rescue Team and two paramedics with the sheriff’s Emergency Services Detail were involved in the rescue attempt.

Several members of the rescue crew searched overnight in temperatures that dropped to near freezing, Roberts said.