Trio Raced To Assist After Crash
Recently lost in the woods himself, Nicholas Aldendorf knew what it was like to be cold, wet and all alone.
So when Greg Yonemura and Colin Greene called and asked him to help find a man who’s plane crashed atop snowy Mount Spokane on Wednesday night, the 20-year-old didn’t think twice.
Yonemura, 20, and Greene, 21, had seen a television news report about the crash and told Aldendorf they were on their way to pick him up.
The three loaded Yonemura’s pick-up truck with flashlights, warm clothes, compasses, walkie talkies and a first-aid kit and raced from their Spokane Valley homes to help find the pilot.
“I like helping people,” Aldendorf said. “Not only that, when I need help, I want people to help me, too.”
Aldendorf has needed help on that same mountain before.
It was only about four miles from where Quentin Evars’ white and blue Cessna 340 crashed that Aldendorf got separated from Yonemura last month.
The two were hunting on Ragged Ridge near Thompson Creek when they took separate paths to search for deer. Before Aldendorf new it, Yonemura was out of sight. A dense fog rolling in made an already fast-approaching nightfall come quicker.
“The fog was so thick you could not see your hand in front of your face,” Aldendorf said.
Cold and wet from the rain that had begun to fall, Aldendorf could hear Yonemura shooting and tried to follow the sound. He shot his own rifle into the air to alert Yonemura, but it did not help.
Aledendorf was alone, lost and thought he would have to spend the night that way.
“It was spooky,” he said.
He climbed toward a high point and again could hear Yonemura in the distance. Having already used all of his bullets, Aldendorf began to yell.
A yell came back.
Again Aldendorf yelled, and again his yell was returned.
Aldendorf and Yonemura both raced - hollering and whistling - toward the sound of the other’s voice, and after 40 minutes of searching, found each other.
“I’ve had some scary times in my life, but I really thought to myself this is how people die,” Aldendorf said.
On Wednesday night, they thought they could make a difference.
However, law enforcement officials feared allowing the trio to help find the downed plane would be more dangerous than productive. The three were forced to wait with medics while rescuers found the plane and Evars, who was killed in the crash.
Frustrated, but not discouraged, Greene said the three would not hesitate to help again for one simple reason.
“Somebody needed help,” he said.
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