When All Else Failed, Downed Fliers Used Text Messaging To
Contact Rescuers
It was supposed to be an easy little jaunt -- a flight from
Little Rock, AR, to Baxter, AR, for a $50 burger. It ended when the
Cessna 140 went down in the Ozark National Forest and the 19-year
old passenger used her cell phone to call for help.
Well, "call for help" doesn't quite cover it.
The woman and her 21-year old pilot
were part of a two-plane flight when their engine apparently quit,
according to witnesses. They had just left Baxter when problems
started.
"It pitched left, up the ridge and I never heard from him
again," witness James Holland told a Baxter Bulletin reporter while
sitting on his mule about a half-mile from the crash. "The motor
sounded real weak."
Holland called 911 and the search was underway. The other
aircraft in the flight circled the downed 140 (file photo of type,
below) for awhile, then departed the area.
But if you've ever been in the Ozark National Forest near Big
Flat, you know how dense those woods are. It took rescuers more
than two hours to pick their way through the vegetation, not
certain of where the aircraft was.
That's when the unnamed 19-year old woman tried her cell phone.
She couldn't get a voice signal, but was able to text message her
mother in Little Rock that the plane had crashed and they needed
help. About the same time, one of the people on board the other
aircraft issued a similar text message on his cell phone, notifying
his father of the mishap.
With that kind of improvised high-tech communication, searchers
were able to locate the wreckage, using a helicopter and teams on
foot.
“The two passengers are OK, as far as we know,”
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery told the Bulletin.
“They were airlifted out and taken to Baxter Regional Medical
Center.”
FAA Preliminary Accident Report
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 72901
Make/Model: C140 Description:
Date: 10/16/2005 Time: 2115
Event Type: Incident Highest Injury:
Minor Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
City: BIG FLAT State: AR Country:
US
DESCRIPTION
ACFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, BIG FLAT, AR
INJURY DATA Total
Fatal: 0
# Crew: 2 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
2 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: FLP 2115 AUKTO 09003KT 10SM CLR 26/09 A3011
OTHER DATA
Departed:
Dep Date: Dep.
Time:
Destination:
Flt
Plan:
Wx Briefing:
Last Radio Cont:
Last Clearance:
FAA FSDO: LITTLE ROCK, AR
(SW11)
Entry date: 10/17/2005