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9 believed dead, 4 injured in firefighter helicopter crash

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(CNN) -- Nine people were missing and presumed dead and four were hospitalized Wednesday after the crash of a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter Tuesday night, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said.
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* KCRA: 9 believed dead in helicopter crash

Three of the injured were contract firefighters battling wildfires, and the fourth was the pilot, spokesman Ian Gregor said. The crash occurred 35 miles northwest of Redding in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in northern California.

The chopper had gone into a remote area to pick up firefighters, Gregor said. He identified those aboard as two crew members and 11 firefighters

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UPDATED: Eight firefighters, one crew member believed dead in Trinity County helicopter crash

By David Benda (Contact)
Originally published 07:59 a.m., August 6, 2008
Updated 01:34 p.m., August 6, 2008





Eight firefighters and one helicopter crew member are missing and believed dead in Tuesday's helicopter crash on the north end of the Buckhorn Fire in Trinity County, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said today.
Some fatalities were confirmed earlier this morning by the U.S. Forest Service, which earlier had announced that nine people were missing after the crash.
Identities of the nine who are believed dead have not been released.
The helicopter pilot and three firefighters were injured in the crash, which was reported at about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday near Junction City.
Spokesman Mike Odle said he cannot confirm whether the missing people were aboard the Sikorsky S-61 helicopter when it crashed or were on the ground. Odle said three of the injured were contract fire fighters working for Greyback Forestry Inc. of Merlin, Ore. Odle didn’t know whether any Forest Service personnel were on board the helicopter.
The crash happened in what Odle called “very rugged terrain” and he said an investigative team is trying to reach the crash site this morning.
But the FAA spokesman said the helicopter had picked up 11 firefighters and was departing when it crashed “for unknown reasons.”
The four who were injured in the crash suffered burns and were taken to Mercy Medical Center in Redding on Tuesday night aboard a Black Hawk helicopter that flew to the scene from Redding. The four injured include the pilot and the three contract fire fighters.
Trinity County Sheriff Lorac Craig said he has two deputies at the crash site, but they can’t get to helicopter because it’s still very hot.
“Once those things get to burning, they are very hard to put out,” Craig said.
Craig couldn’t confirm the number of fatalities.
“That is the assumption; we haven’t been able to prove that (nine presumed dead). . . . I don’t know where they are getting their information. It certainly not from us,” Craig said of the information coming from the FAA.
Three of the injured, including the pilot, have now been transferred to the University of California at Davis Medical Center. One contract fire fighter is in critical condition there and the pilot and second contract fire fighter are listed in serious condition, the spokeswoman said. The fourth victim remains at Mercy in serious but stable condition, she said.
Identities of the victims, who were aboard a helicopter assigned to a Trinity County forest fire, were still not available at the press conference. Odle said the families of the injured have been notified.
Craig said he believes the helicopter came down in a ravine. There are no walking trails to the crash site, so authorities are having to be flown in, Craig said.
“You can reach it by ground, but it may take a day,” Craig said.
Craig couldn’t say how rescuers were able to reach the four injured people but couldn’t get to the nine others.
“The initial story is those four walked out and were found, but nothing’s official at this point,” Craig said.
The helicopter was operated by Carson Helicopters Inc., a contract firefighting company out of Grants Pass, Ore. A spokeswoman at the firm declined to identify the pilot and crew member.
The craft went down at the north end of the 15,848-acre Buckhorn Fire sometime before 7:45 p.m.
The helicopter went down about 100 feet from an unpaved landing spot about 15 miles west of Junction City, said a Forest Service spokeswoman.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
“I am not expecting the NTSB until tomorrow,” Craig said.
A team of NTSB investigators left Washington D.C. at 4 p.m. EDT today.
In August 2006, a Sikorsky CH-54 crashed into the Klamath River near Happy Camp, which killed the pilot and co-pilot. The two men had been flying the helicopter to drop water on the Titus Fire.

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N*****, A SIKORSKY S-61N ROTORCRAFT, WHILE TRANSPORTING FIRE FIGHTERS,
CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THERE WERE 13 PERSONS ON BOARD, 4
SUSTAINED SERIOUS INJURIES AND 3 SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES, 38 MILES FROM
REDDING, CA

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August 7, 2008

WEAVERVILLE, Ca. -- The National Transportation Safety Board, the Federall Aviation Administration, and the U.S. Forest Service are working to determine how a chopper carrying 13 passengers, 2 pilots and 11 firefighters, crashed in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest Tuesday, 35 miles northwest of Redding near Junction City, California.

In a press conference Thursday, NTSB officials say the investigation is hampered by the fact that rugged terrain and fire danger are keeping crews from recovering the helicopter wreckage and retrieving the bodies. They say a flight recorder on board could provide some clues if it is not too severely damaged.

One of the survivors says it seemed like the helicopter's rotor hit a tree as it lifted off to take firefighters back to base camp. Two of the survivors were on fire as they escaped the chopper:

"The third escaped under his own power and did go back to rescue and pull out the fourth survivor," says Kitty Higgins with NTSB.

The NTSB says there were 30 witnesses to the crash. Investigators do not know when they will be able to retrieve the bodies and wreckage because it is surrounded by fire and very rugged terrain, in a remote area.

Of the 13 people on board the chopper, 9 are presumed dead and four are injured.

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