Plane crash cause listed

Inland News Today
Cactus Thorns

INLAND EMPIRE – (INT) – A High Desert plane crash last year has been blamed on the pilot flying too high without supplemental oxygen.

On 4/5/2012 at approximately 8:12 p.m. a 2002 Cessna 182 crashed in the open desert just west of the Mojave National Preserve (about 20 miles north of Ludlow).

The plane was located at 11:30 p.m. by San Bernardino Sheriff’s Aviation personnel.

Due to the condition of the aircraft, darkness and terrain, the decision was made to return the following a.m. to recover the remains of the pilot. Dennis Bazar, a 63 year old resident of San Marino, was the pilot and solo occupant of the Cessna, and had just taken off on a cross-country flight.

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled this week that Dennis Bazar was flying alone above 14,000 feet causing him to become impaired by hypoxia. The small plane went into a rapid descent, but the pilot was unable to recover his vision and judgment.

Passenger listed in critical condition after plane crash

CRASHED: A heavily damaged Cessna 125 rests against the side of an hill after it crashed Saturday night in the Dead Mountain Wilderness area on the outskirts of Needles.

By CAT SMITH
Mohave Valley Daily News

NEEDLES — An official with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office on Monday released the names of the occupants injured following a plane crash Saturday night in the desert just north of Needles.

The victims have been identified as pilot Greg Snyder, 61, of Las Vegas; and passengers Robert Israel, 44; Jennifer Israel, 43, and 10-year-old Jacob Israel, all of Prescott, Ariz.

According to Cynthia Bauchman, spokeswoman with SBCSO, around 5:30 p.m. a plane crash was reported in the Dead Mountain Wilderness area, between Needles and Laughlin.

“The pilot of the 1958 Cessna 125 advised his plane was experiencing mechanical problems before they lost all power,” said Bauchman.

The first report of the crash was received just after 6 p.m., when Snyder radioed that his plane had gone down and he didn’t know his exact location but could see the Avi Resort Casino from his location.

Crews from the Fort Mojave Mesa Fire Department, Mohave Valley Fire Department, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office and the San Bernardino County Fire Department established a command post at the intersection of Aha Macav Parkway and Needles Highway, while a CareFlight helicopter was called in to assist with the search and rescue operation.

Due to rugged terrain surrounding Dead Mountain Wilderness, the initial ground-based search and rescue attempt to reach the injured crash victims was unsuccessful. While the crews were regrouping to approach the terrain from a different direction, CareFlight notified ground operations they had been able to locate and successfully evacuate two of the crash victims and would return for the remaining passengers.

All victims were transported to Western Arizona Regional Medical Center for treatment to their injuries that included broken bones, cuts and scrapes.

Sarah Morga-Mangum, spokeswoman for the hospital, said Monday that Snyder, Jennifer Israel and Jacob Israel were treated and released, but Robert Israel was airlifted to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas with critical injuries.

As of Monday, Israel was still listed as critical inside the Trauma Intentsive Care Unit, according to hospital official.

The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation with the National Safety Transportation Board and the Sheriff’s Aviation Investigation Unit.

Mudslide Clean-Up Continues; Highway 395 Open

Thunderstorm-caused mudslide at Dunmovin, California, pushes a big rig off the northbound U. S. Highway 395 and into a culvert on Thursday, August 26, 2010. Video captured by Jeff Bradshaw of Laguna Niguel shows mud flowing from the southbound lanes and across the divided highway.

Written by Benett Kessler
Sierra Wave

After last Thursday's horrendous flood and mudslide across Highway 395 south of Olancha, Caltrans and others have worked constantly to clear the highway and now to free a big rig that was pushed down into a culvert by the flood.

Susan Lent, PIO of Caltrans, said that the roads are open, but there is a lot of clean-up to do. Intermittent lane closures continue as crews work to clean things up.

Lent said that an Incident Command meeting would take place at the mudslide site on Tuesday among representatives of Caltrans, the CHP, BLM, the Forest Service and DWP. Officials planned to discuss completing clean-up and removal of the big rig which is blocking a culvert.

The initial mudslide had caused complete closure of Highway 395 for several hours. Some motorists headed back to Ridgecrest and detoured through Death Valley although initially Highway 190 was closed due to flooding.

Crews were able to restore northbound and southbound traffic flow, although restricted, by Friday.

Woman dies in crash in preserve

From Staff Reports
Desert Dispatch

CIMA • A 28-year-old woman died from injuries she sustained when her car rolled on Morning Star Mine Road Wednesday morning.

Natasha Nichol Leinaala Mahelona, of Hawaii, was driving northbound on Morning Star Mine Road, around 120 miles east of Barstow inside the Mojave National Preserve, when she lost control of her car according to California Highway Patrol officer Taj Johnson.

Johnson said there were no witnesses, but the car appeared to have rolled several times. Mahelona was pronounced dead at the scene.

The CHP is investigating the accident.

No one claims drone that crashed near El Mirage Dry Lake

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino Sun

One of the many flying contraptions that buzz above the desert crashed Monday morning near El Mirage Dry Lake.

But details about the crash remain a mystery. No one will claim responsibility for what local officials said was an ultralight drone. It's not clear why the device crashed or what purpose it served before its demise.

After the crash, law enforcement officials called Fort Irwin military police to the scene.

But the drone belonged to San Diego-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., not Fort Irwin, said Fort Irwin spokesman Etric Smith.

"It had nothing to do with us," he said. "The reason the authorities called us is that we were the nearest installation."

General Atomics spokeswoman Kimberly Kasitz said she does not comment on crashes and that she doubted the flying machine belonged to her employer.

General Atomics is a high-tech company that manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the company's Web site.

The company's research and development facility is located in Adelanto, which is a 25-minute drive from El Mirage. General Atomics also operates a flight operations facility in El Mirage where flight testing, training and other work is done. According to the company, the El Mirage location has office space, a hangar and a runway.

Mickey Quillman, Bureau of Land Management chief of resources in the Barstow office, said military aircraft, such as the Predator unmanned aircraft, constantly fly in the area.

No one was injured in Monday's crash, which took place inside the fence at the El Mirage Dry Lake shortly before 10 a.m.

"The nearest home was like a quarter of a mile away," said San Bernardino County fire spokeswoman Tracey Martinez.

Unmanned aircraft crashes in dry lake bed

Aerial vehicle narrowly misses homes

Staff Reports
Victor Valley Daily Press

Crash site of an unmanned aerial vehicle that went down Monday morning in the dry lake bed near El Mirage. Residents near the crash site say they heard the engine make a sputtering sound just before seeing it crash.

EL MIRAGE — An unmanned aerial vehicle went down Monday morning at El Mirage Dry Lake, said a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management.

Residents living at the edge of the dry lake bed reported hearing the engine of the aircraft begin to sputter and saw it crash, narrowly missing a couple of homes.

One of the residents, who asked that his name not be used, said the unmanned aircraft constantly fly over the community along the dry lake. He said that sometimes the drones are very close to the ground and have buzzed his house.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. uses the old El Mirage airport as a testing and research area for the unmanned aircraft. The facility is located about 5 miles northwest of Adelanto.

Predator unmaned aerial vehicles are assembled and tested in the area. Predators can be equipped to conduct both reconnaissance and attack operations. NASA officials at Edwards Air Force Base have also deployed Predators to observe wildfires.

Quadruple fatality collision shuts down I-40

California Highway Patrol officers investigate the scene of a 13-vehicle crash on Interstate 40 that claimed at least four lives Sunday. Officers at the scene said that three of the four were still inside the vehicle crushed under this semi truck as of 4 p.m. Staff photo by Abby Sewell

Wind may have been factor in 13-vehicle accident

By NATASHA LINDSTROM and ABBY SEWELL, staff writers
Desert Dispatch

NEWBERRY SPRINGS • Four people were killed and four more injured in a collision that involved seven big rigs and closed Interstate 40 eastbound lanes Sunday, officials said.

As many as 13 vehicles were involved in the quadruple fatality accident that occurred at about 8:30 a.m., including seven tractor-trailers, three pick-up trucks with trailers, two SUVs and one sedan, said California Highway Patrol Officer Richard Vega. Four people in at least two vehicles died in the crash.

San Bernardino County Fire received a call about 9 a.m. about the multivehicle accident on the eastbound I-40 jus east of Fort Cady Road in the Newberry Springs area, said Tom Barnes, dispatch supervisor for San Bernardino County Fire.

“We had one semi that was off the road, and we had to do some extrication to get some of the patients out of the vehicles,” Barnes said.

One 18-wheeler was about 45 yards off the road with the driver trapped inside at 9:08 a.m., officials said.

Another vehicle was trapped under a tractor-trailer while diesel fuel was leaking at 9:02 a.m., officials said.

California Highway Patrol sent its multidisciplinary accident investigation team to the scene to investigate the cause of the accident, Vega said.

“Weather may have played a part in this collision,” Vega said. “There was a wind advisory in effect for this area and our officers were out making routine patrols through the area to check for dust storms.”

Winds gusted up to 49 mph at the Barstow-Daggett Airport on Sunday morning and visibility was significantly reduced along I-40, according to the National Weather Service. The wind advisory urged drivers to use extra caution Sunday.

Officers had no information about the identities of the four confirmed fatalities Sunday afternoon. Three of the four were still trapped inside a sedan that was severely crushed under the trailer of a semi truck as of 4 p.m., Lt. Chet Yun with the Barstow area CHP said.

Two patients with major injuries were transported by helicopter to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center at about 10:30 a.m., and two others with minor injuries were transported by ambulance to Barstow Community Hospital at about 10 a.m., Barnes said.

Yun said a series of collisions apparently started with one non-injury crash that stopped traffic behind it. Some vehicles rear-ended those in front of them, and others crashed while swerving in an attempt to avoid a collision, he said.

Units from Newberry Springs, the Marine Corps Logistics Base, and Daggett, Yermo and San Bernardino County fire departments were sent to the scene, Barnes said. Ambulances from Desert Ambulance Service, American Medical Response and County Fire, Lucerne Valley, also responded to the accident, he said.

Drivers traveling east in the area were rerouted onto National Trails Highway. As of 4 p.m., Vega said the accident investigation team expected to be on scene with the eastbound lanes of the interstate closed until late Sunday evening or early Monday morning.

Interstate crash kills Bullhead City pilot

Experimental aircraft collides with vehicle

Staff and wire reports
Mohave Valley News

CRASH AFTERMATH: A CHP officer inspects the wreckage of a small experimental aircraft that crashed on I-40 near U.S. 95 Tuesday morning.

NEEDLES - A 68-year-old Bullhead City pilot of an experimental aircraft was killed instantly when the plane and a vehicle collided near Interstate 40 and U.S. Highway 95 Tuesday, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The Associated Press reported that the pilot, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was flying low off I-40 where he had made an emergency landing when the westbound vehicle slammed into the plane.

However, the CHP press release contained no information about an emergency landing.

That report states that at 8:05 a.m., the “pilot was flying his aircraft very low, just above motor vehicle traffic. As the pilot approached Interstate 40, he made an easterly turn flying just above the westbound traffic lanes.”

Then, according to the press release, for an unknown reason, the pilot flew his Titan Tornado even lower and into the path of a Ford Fusion, driven by Jessia Erin Buckley, 26, of Riverside, Calif.

The aircraft collided head-on with the Ford, according to the press release and the pilot was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency personnel.

The motor vehicle driver reportedly sustained minor injuries to her right arm, but refused medical treatment.

According to the CHP press release, traffic on westbound Interstate 40 was closed for several hours and traffic was being diverted around the crash site via the U.S. 95 offramp.

Witnesses told the Federal Aviation Administration that the plane was taking off and was about three feet off the ground when the car slammed into it, spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, he said.

Laughlin tour bus crashes - 1 dies, 21 hurt

The charter bus operated by Royal American veered from the highway into a dirt median, overturned and skidded 100 feet, officials say. A Los Angeles woman was ejected and died at the scene.

Firefighters stand beside a bus that crashed on Interstate 40 outside of Barstow, Ca., killing a female passenger. Courtesy of the San Bernadino County Fire Department

By Deborah Schoch, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times

One woman died and 21 others were injured when a tour bus en route from Culver City to Laughlin, Nev., overturned Saturday on an isolated stretch of Interstate 40 in the Mojave Desert, officials said.

Six helicopters and at least nine emergency vehicles, some recruited from nearby military bases, shuttled injured passengers to area hospitals.

Eight of the victims were severely hurt and 13 others suffered minor to moderate injuries. Most or all were from West Los Angeles, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

Faith Creer, 31, of Los Angeles, died at the scene when she was ejected from the bus after it veered from the highway onto the dirt median, toppled on its side and skidded 100 feet, said CHP Officer Taj Johnson.

Some passengers escaped by crawling through the frame of the shattered front windshield, aided by other passengers and drivers who pulled over at the scene, where temperatures soared to 101 degrees.

The identities of the others on the bus were not released, but San Bernardino County Fire Department spokeswoman Tracey Martinez said they boarded the charter at Fox Hills Mall in Culver City. The bus was operated by Royal American Tours & Charter of Glendale, she said. Company officials could not be reached for comment.

Creer's mother said her daughter was on a casino trip, and another relative said she was traveling with her husband.

The crash occurred shortly before 11 a.m. on the eastbound lanes of I-40 about 40 miles east of Barstow and 132 miles west of Laughlin.

The bus was traveling in the left lane about 70 mph when it drifted about 40 feet onto the dirt median, Johnson said. The speed limit is 70 mph on the stretch of highway.

"We don't know why he allowed it to drift," Johnson said. "The driver himself didn't know why it drifted."

As the driver tried steering back onto the pavement, the bus fishtailed, overturned and skidded on its side, Johnson said.

"It's pretty torn up," Martinez said. "It was laying on the driver's side. The front windshield was out."

Six passengers were admitted to Loma Linda University Medical Center, including four who were airlifted there, a hospital official said. One passenger was unharmed, officials said.

About 20 relatives and friends of the victims waited inside the hospital and near the emergency room Saturday evening. Some were crying. Others tried to comfort one another. Most said they were too anxious and emotional to talk.

Two more victims were at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, one in critical condition, the other stable. Three were at St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley.

Three other passengers were treated for minor injuries at Colorado River Medical Center in Needles, Calif.

Fort Irwin and the Marine Corps Logistics Base near Barstow sent rescue vehicles.

The eastbound lanes of I-40 were closed and traffic was diverted to side roads, Martinez said. The CHP is investigating the cause of the accident.

No other vehicles were involved.

Royal American Tours, founded in 2002 by Madanyan Enterprises Inc., transports passengers for tour operators, employers, casino trips, senior centers and other groups, according to the company website.

In December 2005, a Royal American bus filled with passengers burst into flames on Interstate 10 on its way to a casino in Indio, according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise. The bus was destroyed, but no passengers were injured, the newspaper reported.

In the last five years, at least three tour buses owned by other companies have been involved in accidents in the desert, according to news reports.

At least one man died and more than 50 people were injured in March 2005 when a tour bus bound for an Indio casino collided with a fire engine on I-10.

Nineteen people were hurt in September 2004 when a Las Vegas-bound tour bus overturned in a thunderstorm on Interstate 15.

About 100 people were injured in March 2003 when a tour bus bound from Las Vegas to Los Angeles crashed into another bus in a construction zone along I-15.

Bus overturns in Calif. desert, 1 dead, 22 hurt

Associated Press







LUDLOW, Calif. (AP) — A casino trip turned deadly when a charter bus overturned on a Mojave Desert freeway, killing a woman and injuring 22 others.

The bus was heading to the gambling town of Laughlin, Nev. on Saturday when it crashed about three miles east of the town of Ludlow, about 115 miles southwest of Las Vegas, San Bernardino County Fire Department spokeswoman Tracey Martinez said.

"There were no other vehicles involved," she said.

Faith Creer, 31, of Los Angeles was flung from the bus after it veered from Interstate 40 onto a dirt median, toppled on its side and skidded 100 feet, California Highway Patrol Officer Taj Johnson said.

Eight other people were severely injured and 14 had minor to moderate injuries. The driver was among the injured, who were all adults.

Authorities shut down the interstate's eastbound lanes for several hours. Helicopters and ambulances, some from nearby military bases, transported the injured to hospitals.

Investigators were studying skid marks and hoped to talk to the driver to determine the cause of the crash.

The bus is owned by Royal American Tours & Charter of Glendale. It was not immediately clear what group had chartered the bus, and a man who answered the phone at Royal American's office said he did not have any details about the trip or the crash. The bus had picked up its passengers at a mall in Culver City.