Crews find wreckage of medical plane in Humboldt Co., 2 dead, 2 missing
Updated 1 hr 13 mins ago
HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. -- Authorities found the wreckage of a small medical transport plane with four people aboard and confirmed at least two deaths Friday after the pilot reported smoke filling the cockpit and a search started across a densely forested mountain range in Northern California.
The Piper PA31 was carrying a flight nurse, a transport medic and a patient about 360 miles from Crescent City, near the Oregon border, to Oakland when the pilot declared an emergency around 1 a.m.
The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, which led the pursuit on the ground, did not immediately release information about the fates of the other two people aboard.
Rescue teams found the crash site on remote land owned by a private timber company in Humboldt County, about 280 miles north of San Francisco. Sheriff's Lt. Wayne Hanson confirmed the deaths.
The plane lost contact early in the flight path, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The pilot planned to return to Crescent City before the plane vanished from radar 5 miles north of the Arcata-Eureka Airport on the far northern coast, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.
The plane is part of Cal-Ore Life Flight, a small company of about six planes that transports patients throughout Northern California and Oregon.
Don Wharton, a spokesman for parent company REACH Air Medical Services, previously said flights at night are common. He was not immediately available for comment on the deaths.
The National Transportation and Safety Board was notified of the crash.
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Date:
| 29-JUL-2016 | |
| Time: | 0105 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-31T Cheyenne II |
| Owner/operator: | Cal-Ore Life Flight |
| Registration: | N661TC |
| C/n / msn: | 31T8120022 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4 |
| Airplane damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | 5 miles NE of Arcata, CA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ambulance |
| Departure airport: | KCEC |
| KOAK |
An air medical flight from Crescent City, CA en route to Oakland, CA apparently experienced smoke in the cockpit, declared an emergency and subsequently crashed. There was the pilot, two medical crew members and one patient on board. Reports indicate the wreckage has been located 5 miles NE of Arcata, CA.
Sources: http://cal-ore.com/about-us/news/
https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2016/jul/29/rescuers-search-plane-went-missing-early-morning-t/
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Cal-Ore Life Flight Incident
Crescent City, CA
July 29, 2016
10:05 AM PST
REACH Air Medical Services and Cal-Ore Life Flight can confirm that an incident has occurred involving a Piper Cheyenne aircraft associated with our Crescent City, CA base. The plane departed from Crescent City Airport, Jack McNamara Field, for Oakland International Airport at approximately 00:29 AM PST today.
We lost communication with the aircraft at 01:05 AM PST. There were four persons on board: the pilot, a transport medic, a flight nurse and a patient.
At this time, we cannot provide the identity of those on board the aircraft, or other details, until family notifications have been completed. Any comment about the cause or other details of the incident would be unfounded speculation.
We are working with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office who leading the search efforts.
Further updates about this incident will be posted here as soon as they are confirmed.
Further inquiries should be addressed to:
Don Wharton
REACH Director of Business Relations
(760) 760-427-3244
don.wharton@reachair.com.
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(UPDATES, PHOTOS) Two Dead, Two Missing After Medical Plane Crash
Plane wreckage on a Green Diamond access road northeast of the Humboldt County Airport. | Photos by Andrew Goff
UPDATE, 12:50 p.m.: From the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:The National Transportation Safety Board will arrive tomorrow around 1100 hours [11 a.m.]. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has secured the scene.###
There is a quarter-mile debris field for the crash site. Personnel have confirmed plane went down into timber.
Sheriff’s Office is in communication with REACH Air Medical Services with information for the victim’s family. Personnel have confirmed four people were on the plane, and as noted earlier confirmed two fatalities.
UPDATE, 12:29 p.m.: Sheriff’s Office employees have responded to the scene of the crash along with personnel from the California Highway Patrol and employees of Green Diamond Resource Company, which owns the land where the plane went down.
Don Wharton, the director of business relations with Cal-Ore Life Flight’s partner organization REACH Air Medical Services, said he doesn’t yet know if all four passengers aboard the plane were killed. He said he’s remaining hopeful.
“This obviously is going to be a very difficult time for us,” Wharton said.
The Outpost‘s Andrew Goff is near the scene of the crash and sent in the following photos.
UPDATE, 11:09 a.m.: The crash has caused at least two small vegetation fires. just called in additional resources to help handle one of them.
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UPDATE, 10:59 a.m.: The Office of the County Administrator says that at least two people are confirmed to have died in this crash.
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UPDATE, 10:32 a.m.: From Scanner Traffic Indicates’ “Tristan,” who is posting updates over there:
A CHP helicopter has confirmed that the wreckage is from the missing plane. The FAA has notified the NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board].The Outpost is en route to the scene of the rescue, or close to it. We’ll have more soon.
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UPDATE, 10:06 a.m.: The wreckage of the plane has been located on Green Diamond land north of Fieldbrook, according to scanner traffic. The main fuselage was found at the following coordinates:
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UPDATE: This was a Cal-Ore Life Flight plane. From the company’s website this morning:
REACH Air Medical Services confirms there was an incident involving a Cal-Ore Life Flight aircraft out of our Crescent City, CA base. The plane, a Piper Cheyenne II, departed Crescent City Airport for Oakland International Airport. At approximately 1:05 AM PST on 07/29/16, we lost communication with the aircraft. The manifest confirms four persons on board: the pilot, a flight nurse, a transport medic, and a patient. At this time, we cannot provide you with additional details or the identity of people aboard the plane.###
REACH is coordinating with authorities to obtain further details, and we will provide that information as soon as it is available.
From the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
The Federal Aviation Administration database lists the plane as being registered to Blue Goose Aviation of Roseburg, Oregon.This is all of the preliminary information we have on a missing plane in the Arcata area:
- The pilot of a twin-engine Piper PA31 declared an emergency due to smoke in the cockpit around 1 a.m. Friday.
- The plane was flying from Crescent City to Oakland.
- The pilot indicated he was going to return to Crescent City.
- Radar contact with the aircraft was lost about 5 miles northeast of Arcata Airport.
- We believe there were three people on board.
- The Humboldt County Sheriff is searching for the aircraft.
- The tail number is N661TC.
