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Search for missing plane with 10 people
RMRU
was called very early on Monday morning for a
search for an overdue airplane, with ten people
on board.
Members
met at Corona fire station to learn that the
Cessna 410 had left Las Vegas Sunday morning in
poor weather with a destination of John Wayne
Airport in Orange County. The nine family members
and pilot had planned an outing at Disneyland. A
search was initiated when they did not reach
their destination.
The
hills and canyons that made up the search area to
the south of Corona are extremely steep, brushy
and rugged. It was felt that a helicopter was
needed and Dorcey Wingo arrived from Hiser
Helicopters in Corona in a Hughes 500. The
weather had been heavy fog earlier, and now at
first light was starting to break up. As we
briefed Dorcey, and waited for the weather to
clear, we were amazed to hear over the radio that
the plane had been spotted by a news helicopter,
crashed into the side of a very steep hillside
with definitely no survivors.
Because
of the ruggedness of the area, RMRU was used to
take charge of the crash site - to oversee all
helicopter and technical operations, and to help
the coroner remove the bodies. RMRU members and
essential gear was transported to the scene amid
the hazards of remnants of fog and the buzzing of
news helicopters. Once the FAA and NTSB
investigators had finished their initial
investigation, RMRU members helped the coroner
with the truly dreadful task of locating and
removing the five children, their parents, their
aunt and uncle and the pilot from the wreckage.
The body bags were then sling-loaded out by
Dorcey, and then all team members and other
personnel were flown out.
The
mission was completed about four o'clock in the
afternoon, and everyone headed for home.
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