VIDEO: Pilot Killed in Plane Crash North of Beaumont

An 81-year-old Yucaipa man died in a fiery plane crash Sunday morning north of Beaumont, authorities said.

He was the pilot, Riverside County coroner's officials said. The FAA said the single-engine aircraft was registered to a resident of Yucaipa. The destroyed plane's identifying tail number was released Sunday evening.

The plane went down off Kehl Canyon Road near Calimesa, said Cheri Patterson of Cal Fire-Riverside County. A resident reported the crash at 7:19 a.m., Patterson said.

Firefighters worked their way to the plane, which had extensive damage, and found no sign of survivors, Patterson said.

At 9:26 a.m., Cal Fire officials said there was one confirmed fatality and a coroner's investigator was summoned.

"We haven't found the data plate yet," Senior FAA Investigator Howard Plagens said Sunday at the crash scene. "We haven't identified the aircraft yet. We'll probably get retrieval of the wreckage tomorrow."

Plagens stood on a knoll off a ridge and took photos of what he said was a piece of the plane's right wing.

Another FAA investigator, Ron Gonzalez, said the search for the plane's registration and data plate was inconclusive because "everything's burned."

Nearby, a coroner's investigator and deputies worked with ropes and a metal stretcher to bring the pilot's remains up slope from where most of the wrecked plane came to rest.

The plane crash was reported by a local homeowner who called 911, Patterson said. A California Highway Patrol helicopter crew in an airship known as CHP H-60 located the crash site.

Ian Gregor of the FAA told Patch the plane crashed under unknown circumstances in hilly terrain around 7:15 a.m.

The plane burned after crashing, Gregor said.

"We don't know how many people were on board but believe it was only the pilot, who was killed," Gregor said in an email.

The crash site was near Kehl Canyon Road north of Orchard Street.

"It was raining and foggy this morning," said Gilbert Tarr, 50, who lives east of the crash site. "Zero visibility. A seagull wouldn't fly in it."