Wednesday night at the Ocean Shores City Council meeting, Fire Chief Brian Ritter presented awards to members who responded to a plane crash at the Ocean Shores Municipal Airport on June 8.
Both victims were critically injured yet survived due to the actions of responders. Surrounded by fuel and in the mud on the far side of the airstrip, first responders worked in difficult conditions to extricate the victims, maintained their airways and got them delivered to hospital care.
At the same time a CPR in progress call went out diverting resources to aid in another life saving attempt. Responders and agencies involved were Ocean Shores Police Department, Grays Harbor 911 dispatchers, Fire District 7 and the Hoquiam Fire Department along with Life Flight.
The National Transportation Safety Board reported the amateur-built Murphy Moose airplane took a severe hit after what may have been a touch-and-go gone wrong. There are still some questions, since even the pilot can’t remember what happened, citing injuries that resulted from the impact.
“Witnesses located near the accident location reported that they observed the accident airplane approach runway 33 from the south, touch down on the runway, then take off again to the north. The witnesses stated that shortly thereafter, the airplane banked to the right and descended to the ground in a nose low attitude,” according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The fuselage and both wings were substantially damaged. Witnesses reported that it was a “windy day” at the time of the accident.”
Awards:
Jeff Rowling — Merit
Jaimison Berney — Valor
Andrew Mills — Valor
Kaleb Towery — Valor/Merit
Lt. Jeremy Towery — Valor
Matt Rightmeier — Valor/Merit
Randy Sackmann — Valor
George Foster — Valor/Merit
Lt.Cody Sage — Valor
Logan Seguin — Merit
Tommy Wallace — Valor
Matt Rowling — Merit
Assistant Fire Chief Mike Mandella — Valor
Volunteer Chief Jim Davis — Valor
Fire Inspector Curt Begley — Merit
Mayor Frank Elduen — Fire Department Citizen Citation Award
City Administrator Scott Andersen — Fire Department Citizen Citation Award
