BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. Dean Carson, the popular and respected West Coast bus sales executive, was killed last month when the light airplane he was piloting crashed as he was nearing the end of his daily flight home.

Mr. Carson, who would have turned 53 in June, was president of Transit Sales International, largest seller of used transit buses in North America, and Shuttle Bus Leasing, which specializes short- and medium-term bus leases.

For the past decade, Mr. Carson and his brother, Dale, had been business partners, developing and growing three Riverside, Calif.-based companies -- Transit Sales, Shuttle Bus Leasing and Complete Coach Works.

Last year they took a giant leap and purchased the Blue Bird Coachworks and Blue Bird Wanderlodge manufacturing operation in Fort Valley, Ga.

The Carson brothers grew up in the bus industry. Their father, Dave, was a legendary bus salesman and founder of American International Bus Exchange, which he sold to Hausman Bus Sales in the mid-1970s.

Dean Carson went to work for Hausman, which eventually became part of Motor Coach Industries, rising to vice president of sales for the West Coast. He spent nearly 20 years at MCI/Hausman before joining his brother to build their diversified bus business.

Dean Carson ran the sales and leasing operation while Dale Carson headed Complete Coach Works, one of the industrys premier bus retrofit, rebuild, repair and modification companies.

Flying, skiing, snowboarding and motorcycle riding were among Mr. Carsons passions. He flew daily between Flabob Airport in Rubidoux, Calif., which was a 10-minute drive from his office, and Big Bear City Airport, roughly 50 miles and 70 minutes away by car, but only 20 minutes by plane and close to his home.

Mr. Carson was an experienced pilot, having flown for 30 years.

It was during a routine night flight home to Big Bear that his Cirrus SR22 single-engine, four-seat plane crashed into a snow-covered mountain. The Cirrus is best known as the plane that has its own parachute. Theoretically, if the plane runs into trouble, the parachute can be deployed and the plane will float to earth.

He had left Rubidoux Flabob Airport about 9:30 p.m. Shortly after midnight, a family member called the local sheriffs office to report him missing.

Early the next morning, Dale Carson chartered a helicopter to fly over the rugged San Bernardino Mountains to search for the plane.

However, it was a California Highway Patrol pilot that spotted the downed craft at 8:22 a.m., about 100 yards from an abandoned U.S. Forest Service lookout tower on Butler Peak.

Firefighters and county search-and-rescue team members rode snowcats and all-terrain vehicles to the crash site.

The treacherous mountainside was covered with up to 2 feet of snow, plus mud, making it difficult to reach the wreckage. An investigator with the county coroner's office was flown in to recover Mr. Carsons remains.

The crash site was about 11 miles west of Big Bear City Airport. No distress signal was received, and the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Complete Coach Works Vice President Macy Neshati, who acted as the family spokesman following the crash, said Mr. Carsons flight "was a route he was quite familiar with.

"We don't know if it was weather, health or mechanical," said Neshati. "It was just basically a routine commute for him."

Dick Seitzinger, a retired MCI/Hausman sales vice president, knew Dean Carson for nearly 30 years, having been Mr. Carsons boss for 15 years and then having the roles reversed and working for him as a consultant for another five years.

"We had a magnificent relationship," said Seitzinger. "He was a super pusher, a good one. He was a great guy."

Others who knew and worked with Mr. Carson expressed similar sentiments.

"He was a good guy, a real bus man of the Jerry Hausman, Clarence Cornell ilk," said one former colleague. "I dont know anyone who didnt like him."

In a statement, the Carson family said, "Dean was known for his unrivaled passion for the (bus) industry, surpassed only by his dedication and devotion to his family and friends and his passion for life."

Added Neshati: "He was very smart, very gregarious. He always had a ready smile for everyone. He was very passionate about life, about his family -- one of those guys who was always going full-throttle.

"While his shoes can never be filled, the businesses that he was so instrumental in creating will continue to operate under the leadership of his dedicated employees and management team."

In 2001, Mr. Carson was recognized at the Inland Empire International Business Associations Exporter of the Year awards, and three years ago he was named Regional Exporter of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Transit Sales International sells used and rebuilt buses throughout the Western Hemisphere and elsewhere in the world.

In addition to his wife, Diane, and his brother, Mr. Carson is survived by three adult children, David, Kyle and Katie; his mother, Carol, and his sister Dawn O'Keefe.