Fiery Crash in
Big Bear City
Editor
E T Russell__
Big
Bear City, CA __ June 22, 2021, a ‘Mayday Aircraft Emergency’ call went out to
emergency agencies at approximately 1:15 PM, Tuesday afternoon. Big Bear City neighbors
Cheryl Bennett, Dan Lanctot and Kurt Lind heard a loud boom and ran outdoors
from their homes assuming that a transformer had blown. Emergency agencies in the Big Bear Valley
responded to the incident location on the north of Big Bear Airport, where a
single engine Piper aircraft was found to be on fire. Bennett ran to pull the
female passenger out of danger, while the pilot was able to evacuate himself. The two injured occupants were airlifted by Mercy
Air and transported to a trauma center.
Power
outages were reported in several North Shore neighborhoods such as Whispering
Pines and Peter Pan including Nana and Meadow streets where the fiery aircraft landed.
The
emergency agencies responded from: Big Bear Airport, California Highway Patrol,
Mercy Air, San Bernardino County Fire Department-Fawnskin, San Bernardino
County Sheriff 40-King, including SB County/Big Bear Sheriff Captain Datillo and
Bear Valley Electric. Several news agencies also responded to the accident.
The extent
of the two occupants’ injuries is unknown. The accident is being investigated by
FAA and NTSB.
Photo
credit to: Big Bear Fire Dept, C. Bennet, E T C