Plane Crash Kills Woman

An El Cajon woman was killed and her husband injured Sunday morning when the twin-engine airplane they were flying crashed into Sheephead Mountain 5 miles north of Interstate 8 and Buckman Springs Road, authorities said.

Helen Brown, 58, of the 2300 block of Tambourine Lane in El Cajon died while being taken by ambulance to Sharp Memorial Hospital, officials said. Her husband, Neil Brown, was listed in satisfactory condition at Sharp Memorial Sunday night.

The couple were en route from Gillespie Field in El Cajon to Mesa, Ariz., when the plane was caught in a down-draft near the mountains and crashed into the remote, rugged area, Neil Brown said.

The California Highway Patrol responded to a call of a plane down at 10:46 a.m. and notified the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, authorities said. The sheriff’s department sent up a helicopter, which was turned back because of high winds, officials said. An hour later, a CHP helicopter landed about 200 yards from the wreckage. It took another hour to pull Helen Brown from the plane, sheriff’s officials said.

Meanwhile, Neil Brown had walked some five miles to reach a highway emergency call box and phoned for help, officials said. He was flown to Sharp by helicopter. He told authorities he knew he was going to crash, so he slowed the plane down and tried to land it on its belly.