| Weber County Sheriff's
Search and Rescue home |
| Search & Rescue - Airplane Crash |
This is an unofficial site on the Weber
State University network.
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| In August 1998 a small aircraft crashed in bad weather in the Monte
Cristo mountains about 30 miles east of Ogden, Utah. The two occupants of the aircraft
would possibly have died and one patient certainly would have lost at least a leg if not
for the efforts of the various units associated with the Weber County Sheriff's Search and
Rescue Team. The lead unit was the Mountain Rescue Unit with major assistance from the
Jeep Patrol. The members of the "Dive Team" (the Underwater Recovery Unit) also
added a much welcomed boost with ground support. Ultimately the greatest help came from the
LifeFlight helicopter crew stationed out of the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. Deputy
Brad Randall was the incident commander. Some of the images below are from the Weber
County Sheriff's CSI (crime scene investigation) department. Images with the date in the
corner where taken by MRU Commander John Sohl. Clicking on the images with boarders will
give you a higher resolution image. All images are (C) 1998.
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Late at night, in ocassionally heavy rain, this is what we found. (The actual location
was done by LifeFlight who directed us to the crash site.)
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The two patients had serious injuries including fractures, dislocations, cuts, and a
punctured intestine. Both patients are currently alive and well. The patients were stoic
and survived in part to their strong will to live and a positive attitude. In the image
below we are attempting to prepare them for extrication from the aircraft.
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After extracating the two patients we had to carry them through heavy (and wet!) brush
to the LZ. In these two images that follow the first patient had been loaded and we were
waiting for the next team to bring down the second patient. Note the tall grass that the
chopper is in. This was the only clearing that was anywhere near. Seconds before landing
it became clear that a large log was hidden in the tall grass that nearly damaged the
helicopter. (The damage was avoided because the LZ personnel spotted the log and had the
chopper back up 10 feet.)
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The aircraft had seen better days. In the following images we had already delivered the
patients to the LifeFlight helicopter that had found an LZ about a quarter mile away
(abeit through heavy forest). Had we had to hand carry the patients out up the mountain,
the outcome would not have been as positive.
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After an exhausting all night SAR operation we took a much needed break with a breakfast
provided by the local Red Cross.
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