ENCINITAS: Local man killed in San Bernardino plane crash

By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 5:08 PM PST ∞

An Encinitas man was among four people killed in a weekend plane crash in the San Bernardino Mountains.

David Rodney Helland, 60, was a passenger aboard a small airplane that crashed into San Gorgonio Mountain as it flew from Baja California to Hesperia on Sunday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's Department said Tuesday.

Helland's daughter, Sarah Santos, 31, of Encinitas, said Wednesday that her father had lived in the Encinitas neighborhood of Olivenhain with his wife, Barbara, for over 30 years.

Originally from El Cajon, Helland graduated with a degree in biology from UC San Diego and ultimately settled into a long career as a computer engineer at SAIC in Sorrento Valley, Santos said.

On Sunday, he was returning from a weekend trip to Gonzaga Bay, a favorite Mexican getaway where he frequently visited an old friend, Santos said.

"I think they had a great time that weekend," Santos said of her father and the others on the plane.

Helland normally drove to the Mexican fishing town about 400 miles away equipped with a GPS navigational system that sent automatic computer updates notifying his wife and two adult daughters of his location, Santos said.

But last weekend, the plane's pilot, 74-year-old Douglas Ralph Bowles of Hesperia, called Helland to offer him the fourth seat in the plane that would also carry Bowles's 28-year old grandson, Joshua Daniel Chlebek of North Hollywood, and his friend, Oludare Ibiyemi Akinwunmi, 29, of Sun Valley.

Santos said her father knew Bowles from the regular trips the pilot made to Gonzaga Bay.

On the return trip, the plane disappeared from radar during a storm over the summit of San Gorgonio shortly before noon, the Sheriff's-Coroner said.

Santos said her family was hoping for the best when they learned the plane was missing, but on Monday all four men aboard the plane were confirmed dead when authorities discovered the wreckage on a west slope of the mountain.

The National Transportation and Safety Board is investigating the accident.

Helland loved spending time with his family, including his three young grandchildren, Santos said. He liked building projects and had just completed a wooden play castle for the children.

"He was such a good father, such a good grandfather," she said.

Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com