Sparrowhawk
08-07-02, 06:25 PM
Pilot rescued after his plane crashes into SB Mountains
ANGELICA MARTINEZ
Staff Writer
SAN GORGONIO WILDERNESS … A sheriff's helicopter plucked an injured pilot from the wreckage of his World War II-era military-style training plane 10,000 feet up in the San Bernardino Mountains on Tuesday afternoon.
Aerial tankers fought a half-acre blaze started by the crash of the single-engine T-34 even as a paramedic was being lowered to aid the pilot and prepare him for rescue.
The man, whose identity was not immediately learned, was flown to Loma Linda University Medical Center for treatment of a crushed pelvis and a broken leg about an hour after the crash. His condition was not available.
The plane went down in the wilderness about a mile and a half east of San Bernardino Peak, four miles west of the San Gorgionio Peak, said Robin Haynal, sheriff's spokeswoman.
U.S. Forest Service officials reported the crash about 2:12 p.m. from Shields Peak above Forest Falls.
Emergency crews from the U.S. Forest Service and the Sheriff's Department moved quickly after they learned that the crash had started the fire in a small stand of trees.
Sheriff's search-and-rescue workers in green cargo pants and orange shirts prepared ropes and backpacks for the mission at the nearby Angelus Oaks Fire Station while the rescue helicopter hovered above the crash.
Deputies said the site is inaccessible to ground vehicles and could only be spotted from above.
Engine failure was believed to be the cause of the crash.
Sheriff's deputies said the origin and destination of the flight had not been determined.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ANGELICA MARTINEZ
Staff Writer
SAN GORGONIO WILDERNESS … A sheriff's helicopter plucked an injured pilot from the wreckage of his World War II-era military-style training plane 10,000 feet up in the San Bernardino Mountains on Tuesday afternoon.
Aerial tankers fought a half-acre blaze started by the crash of the single-engine T-34 even as a paramedic was being lowered to aid the pilot and prepare him for rescue.
The man, whose identity was not immediately learned, was flown to Loma Linda University Medical Center for treatment of a crushed pelvis and a broken leg about an hour after the crash. His condition was not available.
The plane went down in the wilderness about a mile and a half east of San Bernardino Peak, four miles west of the San Gorgionio Peak, said Robin Haynal, sheriff's spokeswoman.
U.S. Forest Service officials reported the crash about 2:12 p.m. from Shields Peak above Forest Falls.
Emergency crews from the U.S. Forest Service and the Sheriff's Department moved quickly after they learned that the crash had started the fire in a small stand of trees.
Sheriff's search-and-rescue workers in green cargo pants and orange shirts prepared ropes and backpacks for the mission at the nearby Angelus Oaks Fire Station while the rescue helicopter hovered above the crash.
Deputies said the site is inaccessible to ground vehicles and could only be spotted from above.
Engine failure was believed to be the cause of the crash.
Sheriff's deputies said the origin and destination of the flight had not been determined.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.