Two Killed in Cherokee Crash Near Mammoth Lakes Airport

http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article...63143666679863

Grover Beach lawyer survives plane crash
ROB KUZNIA, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

January 12, 2006 12:00 AM

A local attorney was the sole survivor of a plane crash near Mammoth
Lakes Airport [Elev: 7,129 ft] over the weekend that left two others
dead.

Bill Hansult, a lawyer who often represents the Libertarian Party of
Santa Barbara County, was a passenger in the four-seat Piper Cherokee
piloted by a friend, Joseph Terrell "Terre" Owens of Arroyo Grande.
The plane had a mechanical failure 10 minutes after takeoff and
crashed upside down in a snowbank near the airport. Mr. Owens was 59.
Also killed was Carol Maki, 51, of San Luis Obispo.

The three were returning to San Luis Obispo County from a ski trip in
Mammoth.

Speaking Wednesday from his hospital bed at Washoe Medical Center in
Reno, Nev., a battered and emotionally drained Mr. Hansult recounted
the wreck and reflected on his luck.

"Everyone's saying it was a miracle," said the 51-year-old Grover
Beach resident.

Mr. Hansult suffered multiple broken bones in his left arm and back --
three of them compound fractures -- as well as several bruises. He
bled so badly from a cut on his head that he received a transfusion.
Mr. Hansult said he is scheduled to undergo surgery on his shoulder
today.

The group of friends was 600 feet in the air when the plane sputtered,
lurched right and plunged, he said.

"I saw the ground rushing toward us," he said. "Terre tried to correct
the problem. The next thing I know I'm saying, 'Oh my God, Terre.' "

When he came to, the 6-foot, 215-pound Mr. Hansult was trapped in a
mangled mess. "I was like a sardine in a broken sardine can," he said.
With its white underbelly, the plane was not easy to spot.

"I was in a T-shirt and jeans," said Mr. Hansult, a native of Long
Island, N.Y. "I figured I was going to die in the elements. All of a
sudden, a miracle happened. I faintly heard some voices in the
background. Luck had it these two women were cross-country skiing in
the outback." One had a cell phone and called 911. Rescue workers
arrived the only way possible, via snowmobile. They used the Jaws of
Life to save Mr. Hansult.

He said Mr. Owens typically asks passengers to take turns sitting in
the front seat -- one each way. When they left for Mammoth on
Thursday, Ms. Maki took the front. Just before the return trip, Mr.
Hansult asked if he could sit in the back again because he wanted to
take a nap, a move that likely saved his life.
....




http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/a...a/01_9124W.txt
************************************************** ******************************
** Report created 1/12/2006 Record 1 **
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IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 9124W Make/Model: PA28 Description: PA-28
CHEROKEE, ARROW, WARRIOR, ACHER, D
Date: 01/08/2006 Time: 2243

Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Substantial

LOCATION
City: MAMMOTH LAKES State: CA Country: US

DESCRIPTION
ACFT SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, CRASHED, THERE WERE THREE PERSONS ON
BOARD, TWO
WERE FATALLY INJURED, ONE SUSTAINED UNKNOWN INJURIES, MAMMOTH LAKES,
CA

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 2
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0
Unk:
# Pass: 2 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0
Unk: 1
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0
Unk:

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA

Departed: MAMMOTH LAKES, CA Dep Date: Dep. Time:
Destination: UNK Flt Plan: Wx
Briefing:
Last Radio Cont:
Last Clearance:

FAA FSDO: RENO, NV (WP11) Entry date:
01/09/2006

Some may consider this in bad taste, but the thought will occur to
others...
Change the subject line to read:
"NY LAWYER TO SUE FRIEND'S ESTATE FOR CRASHING!" (or something to that
effect)

"john smith" wrote in message
...
Some may consider this in bad taste, but the thought will occur to
others...
Change the subject line to read:
"NY LAWYER TO SUE FRIEND'S ESTATE FOR CRASHING!" (or something to that
effect)


No doubt.

--------------------------------------
DW

Is that the airport at Bishop? If it is, I landed there years ago
after coming over Mammoth Pass form OAK.

Despite the mountains to the west, isn't there a lot of flat, treeless
land around that airport?

vince norris

In article ,
vincent p. norris wrote:

Is that the airport at Bishop? If it is, I landed there years ago
after coming over Mammoth Pass form OAK.

No, it's at Mammoth itself -- KMMH -- a bunch of miles further up
California and a few thousand feet higher.

Despite the mountains to the west, isn't there a lot of flat, treeless
land around that airport?

No -- there's a hill right next to it, and a bunch of mountains close
by. It's very different from Bishop (KBIS), which *is* surrounded by
comparatively flat terrain within a few miles at least. Take a look at
the aerial photo on Airnav -- http://www.airnav.com/airport/KMMH for
a good idea of what it's like...

Hamish

In article
,
Hamish Reid wrote:

[...]

No -- there's a hill right next to it, and a bunch of mountains close
by. It's very different from Bishop (KBIS), which *is* surrounded by
comparatively flat terrain within a few miles at least. Take a look at
the aerial photo on Airnav -- http://www.airnav.com/airport/KMMH for
a good idea of what it's like...

Erm, following up to myself in the light of the new day, Bishop is KBIH,
of course, not KBIS (which is lovely Bismark, ND). I know this because I
once accidentally typed KBIS into DUATS to get the weather for Bishop
and was astonished to see a bunch of warnings about tornadoes, large
hailstones, thunderstorms, etc., on what was a basically CAVU day over
the entire country west of the Rockies...

Hamish

Thanks, Hamish.

vince norris