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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, March 27, 2014 INCIDENTS Wright Brothers NM Two Injured In Plane Crash Dare County dispatch contacted the park on the morning of Sunday, March 23rd, and advised that there'd been a plane crash with injuries south of First Flight Airstrip. Rangers Lynne Belanich, Sean Reier, and Alex Heyer responded along with other agencies. A Fantasy SRO Air Allegro 2000 had crashed southwest of the airstrip approach. Witnesses said that the pilot aborted the plane's first approach and that on the second approach it veered to the west, crashed into and through some tall pine trees, and came to rest on the park boundary near a power line and houses outside of the park. Recently retired NPS safety officer Warren Wrenn was first on scene and helped the pilot and passenger out of the plane through the windshield. The pilot was transported to the Outer Banks Hospital and flown by medevac helicopter to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, North Carolina. The passenger was treated for minor injuries and released. The plane was a total loss. First responders were amazed that there was no post-crash fire. The FAA is conducting the investigation at the request of the NTSB. For a related news article, click on this link: HYPERLINK "http://wavy.com/2014/03/23/small-plane-crash-reported-in-kill-devil- hills/" http://wavy.com/2014/03/23/small-plane-crash-reported-in-kill -devil-hills/ [Paul Stevens, Chief Ranger] Bryce Canyon NP Lost Hikers Found And Rescued On the evening of Saturday, March 22nd, rangers David Sutherland and Tyla Guss received word from the Garfield County's Dispatch Center that they'd received a partial cell phone call from within the park from a group of lost hikers. The hikers were able to report that they began their hike at Bryce Point before the call was dropped. Efforts to reconnect with them proved fruitless. Guss implemented ICS and assumed the role of incident commander. Short on park resources, with darkness closing in and the temperature dropping, she called in air support to help locate the missing hikers. Classic Helicopter Service out of Page, Arizona, responded to the call. Guss also requested the assistance of the local volunteer search and rescue team, Tropic Fire and Rescue, which immediately responded and provided essential ground support. The Classic Helicopter crew located the missing hikers on the Hat Shop Trail well below the rim and several miles from Bryce Point around 11:30 p.m. Two volunteers on the Tropic Fire and Rescue Team hiked to their location. Aside from being tired and ill-prepared to spend the night in such cold temperatures, members of the group needed no further medical treatment and were escorted back to the trailhead. [Daniel Fagergren] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): Horseshoe Bend NMP - A two-day symposium on the Battle of Horseshoe Bend was held last week, kicking off bicentennial commemorations of that event. A formal commemorative ceremony and other events to remember the battle and to acknowledge the lives lost will begin at the park today. Office of Partnerships and Philanthropic Stewardship - The National Park Foundation is soliciting proposals for grants from its Ticket to Ride program. Applications are due by Friday, April 18th. Links are provided for more information and for applications. Fire and Aviation Management - Staff members of the Branch of Structural Fire were recently awarded a citation for for their outstanding leadership, teamwork and accomplishments in helping to professionalize the Service's structural fire program. San Francisco Maritime NHP - Retired San Francisco Maritime safety manger and hazardous materials coordinator Timothy Przygocki passed away on February 19th after a long illness. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |