|
Round Lake Plane Crash
April 2007
An emergency locator beacon (ELT) triggered a response on the evening of April 8, 2007, from the Alpine County Sheriff's Department. A pair of SAR members from Alpine County set out overnight trying to locate source of the beacon. At daybreak, teams from Tahoe SAR, joined by EDSAR, West Slope and H-20 (CHP helicopter) embarked to the search area. One team was inserted by motor vehicles, the remaining three teams (snowshoers and skiers) were delivered by CHP H-20 or a CalStar helicopter.
The H-20 crew found the wreckage about 8:00 a.m. and followed footprints away from the wreckage for 0.5 mile, to where a dropped pack was found. One deceased individual, thought to be the pilot, was found in the wreckage, south of Round Lake at 8,000 feet. The SAR was originally tagged as an Alpine County mutual aid, but the crash site was just inside the El Dorado County line, so EDSO took primary command on the search/recovery. The command post was set up at the Tahoe SAR property in Meyers.
A Huey from the Fallon Naval Air Station joined in (their radio call - Longhorn 1). They found the other plane occupant 1.5 miles from the crash site with serious injuries. The 35-year-old female was airlifted to Washoe Medical Center in Reno.
Preliminary reports were that the plane fueled up at Tahoe Airport before 8:00 p.m. last night. If so, the plane was probably airborne for a few short minutes.
After the survivor recovery, plans were underway for EDSO coroner to visit site and, with assistance from H-20 and possibly fire personnel, to recover the deceased pilot. The search teams were recalled and extracted by helicopter and motor vehicle.
News articles:
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20070409/BREAKING/70409001
http://www.kcra.com/news/11590477/detail.html
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/151879.html
Grant Nelson said...
Greg Stewart and I were flown in to the crash site by CHP H-20 at about 10:00 a.m. Our assignment was to search in the direction of the tracks found departing the crash site. With CALSTAR 6, H-20, and Longhorn 1 all involved in aerial search to no avail, Greg and I assumed that the survivor must be down. There were several rock outcrops adjacent to the survivor's tracks. We removed our skis and searched these outcrops, particularly working protected areas out of the wind, thinking the survivor may have taken shelter and become hypothermic. It was reported to have been very windy the day of the crash, and the wind continued on Monday. When Longhorn 1 spotted the survivor, we were about 0.5 mile to the southwest. We moved to a ridge and watched the extraction. We were then directed to return to the crash site. Teams 1 and 3 of South Tahoe EDSO SAR were a short distance north of the subject when the find occurred; they too were directed to walk the crash site after the find. The coroner was flown in by H-20, arriving about the same time we did. Based upon the condition of the plane, it appears that they must have lost significant altitude, perhaps due to a down draft. A large flat meadow was ahead of them. It appears they were trying to make it through a narrow opening in some 30 foot lodgepole pines and then to the meadow. There was a significant impact dent on the leading edge of the right wing that was semicircular in shape with about a 4-5 inch radius. So it appears that their right wing hit one of the lodgepoles and the plane went into a horrid clockwise yaw. The elevator was found to be in full pitch up. At 180° into the yaw, the elevator would cause the tail to drop. The plane was found upside down and no impacts were found in the snow anywhere but where the plane was found. The dropping tail theory could explain why the plane was found as it was. After we all realized what apparently happened in the crash, we were astounded that the woman survived. The violence in that plane during the impact and sudden yaw must have been horrible. Greg and I helped with the body extraction. The body and personnel on scene were then shuttled out by H-20. We were in the final shuttle, arriving at South Tahoe airport at about 4:30 p.m.
|