Two teams of Redlands Firefighters were transported by helicopter Saturday, June 6, to recover the bodies of three people killed in a plane crash a day earlier on a remote ridge at the east end of the City.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Aviation Division transported the eight firefighters, along with a Redlands Police Officer, two investigators from the county Sheriff’s Coroner’s Division, a Federal Aviation Administration investigator and about 300 pounds of equipment to the crash site overlooking Mill Creek Road.
On Friday, June 5, a passerby reported seeing the wreckage of a small plane in the Crafton Hills Preserve above the City of Redlands Tate Water Treatment Plant, south of Highway 38. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Aviation Division personnel responded to the area and located the downed plane, a single-engine Cessna 175, and confirmed the death of the three occupants.
Because of the difficulty in reaching the site, the Redlands Fire Department made a plan with the Sheriff’s Department’s Aviation Division to access the site by helicopter the next day. A Redlands Police officer was stationed below the ridge to monitor the crash site overnight to ensure that it was not disturbed before investigators and recovery crews could be airlifted in.
At about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, the teams met at the United States Forest Service Ranger Station on Bryant Street and were transported to the site where they hiked down the ridge to the wreckage about 50 yards below.
While the FAA investigator assessed the plane and the crash site, a team of four Redlands firefighters shored up the wreckage to prevent it from slipping down the ridge during the recovery operation. Then another team of firefighters used the Jaws of Life to cut into the wreckage and remove the bodies of the pilot and two passengers.
The firefighters placed the remains of the victims on stretchers and carried them up the hill to the top of the ridge, where Coroner’s Office investigators performed a preliminary investigation.
At about 12:30 p.m., the entire team and the remains of the victims were transported off the ridge by helicopter.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
Redlands Fire Department press releases and other information are available on the Redlands Fire Department Facebook page at www.facebook.com/redlandsfiredepartment or on the City’s website at https://www.cityofredlands.org/fire-department.