4 Killed in Crash of Single-Engine Plane in Yosemite National Park

Four people were killed when their single-engine plane crashed in steep terrain on the eastern edge of Yosemite National Park, authorities said Saturday.

Searchers reached the plane about 9 a.m. Saturday after the Civil Air Patrol sighted it near a 12,767-foot, snow-covered peak, said Kris Fister of the National Park Service.

The plane had emitted an emergency signal about 6 p.m. Friday, but an initial search of the region yielded nothing, Fister said. The cause of the crash is unknown.

The plane departed Sequoia Field near Visalia about 1:15 p.m. Friday en route to Carson City, Nev., said Jerry Acosta, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

Identities of the four victims were not available. Fister said no one else was aboard.

Search efforts were slowed by the snow and steep terrain in the region, about 15 miles south of Tuolumne Meadows, which contains some of Yosemite’s tallest peaks.