Medical Examiner’s Office. Photo via @SanDiegoCounty Twitter
Authorities Monday released the name of a private pilot who was killed last week when the light airplane he was flying crashed on a La Jolla hillside during a rainstorm.
Michael Salour, 74, was piloting a Cessna P210 Centurion from the San Francisco Bay Area to McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad on Wednesday evening when he was diverted to Montgomery Field due to inclement weather, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.
After making an aborted attempt to land at the Kearny Mesa airport, Salour continued flying to the northwest along the coast amid fog and rain, officials said. At about 9:30 p.m., he radioed that the plane was low on fuel, after which flight controllers lost contact with him.
Shortly before 2:30 a.m. Thursday, police found the wreckage of the plane on an open slope south of Gilman and La Jolla Village drives with Salour’s body still in the pilot’s seat.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the fatal accident.
City News Service contributed to this article.