Mother, two children killed in Barstow plane crash

The three people killed in a fiery airplane crash near Barstow, Calif., on Sunday were a mother and her two children, according to the Orange County Register, but formal identification of the bodies could take months.

The newspaper reported that Jim Morrison of Truckee, Calif., confirmed his wife, Katie Morrison, was piloting the Cessna 210 with his two children on board, but authorities will delay making that determination pending a scientific effort to identify the bodies.

A spokeswoman with the San Bernardino, Calif., sheriff's office said the single-engine plane "encountered problems" not long after taking off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County. The three were headed to the Henderson Executive Airport.

According to authorities, witnesses reported they could see smoke after the plane crashed near the base of a small mountain about six miles south of the Daggett Airport .

Deputies with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Barstow Station and paramedics from the Marine Corps Logistics Base Fire Department responded to the location.

The remote area, which is approximately 30 minutes off Interstate 40, is rugged, and the responders needed four-wheel drive vehicles to reach the location.

After extinguishing the burning wreckage they found the bodies of a female adult, a female child and a male child.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration, said the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

"A preliminary report will probably be out in a couple of weeks," said Gregor, but a formal finding could take several months.

Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.