Air Tanker Crashes In SoCal

A firefighting air tanker has crashed and burst into flames in the San Bernardino National Forest, killing two people aboard.

The FAA says the plane, contracted to the U-S Forest Service, was flying from Prescott, Arizona, to San Bernardino when it went down around 11:30 this morning about four miles outside of Redlands. Wreckage was spotted in the foothills at about the 3,500-foot level.

Authorities say the crash started a one and a-half-acre fire that was quickly doused. A Forest Service spokesman says the tanker was one of two that were heading to the San Bernardino Air Tanker Base after fighting a fire in Arizona. The other landed safely.

The Forest Service says it was foggy at the base at the time of the crash, but it´s unclear whether that overcast extended into the mountains.