A plane crash claimed the life of a man in the rugged mountains north of San Bernardino, with the wreckage discovered after an overnight search hindered by harsh weather, officials said. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department received reports of a plane sputtering and crashing near the mountains at approximately 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, following which witnesses saw a red flash, signaling catastrophe amidst the crags of Devil’s Canyon, as per the statements provided by the Sheriff's Department.

The rough terrain thwarted immediate rescue efforts as the area was inaccessible by vehicle or on foot deputies and officers from the San Bernardino Police Department were grounded and unable to penetrate the wilderness, in the night the search was halted until daylight could grace their grim task. It wasn't until Sunday morning that the Sheriff's Aviation Division, initially grounded due to rain affecting Southern California, was able to take off and locate a debris field of tragedy in the forbidding landscape.

Recovery efforts ensued with Search and Rescue operatives working alongside a Coroner's Office investigator to navigate the accident site where they discovered the remains of the deceased male whose identity has not yet been disclosed until necessary processes are complete, according to information given by CBS News Los Angeles. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) clarified that the aircraft was a twin-engine Gulfstream AC95, which crashed in the vicinity of Palm Avenue and West Verdemont Drive.

Investigations have been initiated by both the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA to determine what may have caused such a fatal downturn, with no further details immediately provided by authorities or any reports of additional casualties, the silence on the airwaves now a somber echo of Saturday's ill-fated flight's final moments as recollected in a KTLA report.