Passenger: Copter Fell After Warning Pilot Most Seriously Hurt Of 3

Wildlife biologist Gerald Green held his helmet in his hands and stared into the dense forest.

Behind him, two other men were still trapped inside the crushed helicopter he had just crawled from. Green, the father of a 13-month-old girl, did not know where he was or how he had gotten there.

“We were flying down this draw and some warning signal started going off - some loud buzzing,” Green said Wednesday from his Plummer home. “The pilot started wrestling with the stick and he said, `We’re going in.’ That’s the last I remember.”

Green, pilot James Wolhaupter and Coeur d’Alene tribal fish and wildlife manager Robert Matt all were injured Tuesday night when the Hiller 12E Soloy helicopter they were riding in crashed along a steep hillside four miles northeast of Tensed.

Wolhaupter, the most seriously injured, underwent surgery Wednesday at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane. His injuries included a broken femur (thigh bone), a dislocated elbow and punctured lung, tribal officials said.

Matt, 25, of Spokane, suffered a broken collarbone and extensive bruises to his head and chest. He remained hospitalized Wednesday at Deaconess.

Green, 41, was treated and released Monday night from Gritman Memorial Hospital in Moscow.

“They were all very fortunate,” said Benewah County Sheriff Joe Blackburn.

The helicopter crashed in the Four Corners area near Moses Mountain while its occupants were surveying the winter elk population, said Chuck Matheson, tribal law and order administrator.

“It fell like a rock out of the sky,” Green said. “It was just that quick.”

Federal Aviation Administration investigators combed the scene Wednesday and will relay their findings to the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aircraft accidents.

NTSB investigator Steve McCreary said little was known about what the helicopter was doing when it encountered trouble. Green said the helicopter was not very far above the tree line when it crashed, but could not remember what kind of maneuver it was making.

Although it will take several months to determine what caused the crash, McCreary said investigators will be helped by the fact that everyone on board survived.

Green, the only one not trapped in the wreckage, hiked for two hours through deep mud and snow to find help after the helicopter crashed on a rugged hillside about 3:30 p.m., said Bob Bostwick, the tribe’s press secretary.

“The pilot said, `Just go down hill,”’ said Green, who described himself as disoriented and in a fog when he hiked to the nearest house to call for help.

Rescuers assembled along Four Corners Road about 5:40 p.m. and traveled about three miles in an all-terrain, tracked vehicle to get near the site, Blackburn said. From there, rescuers hiked the last three-quarters of a mile to reach the wreckage.

Once at the downed helicopter, it took rescuers two hours to free Wolhaupter and Matt from the wreckage. Both had to be carried to the all-terrain vehicle.

McCreary, the NTSB investigator, said it could take six months before a cause is determined. FAA investigators were trying to determine Wednesday whether the helicopter was hovering, maneuvering or flying when it went down.

Tuesday’s ride was the first in a helicopter for Green, who has only been with the tribe’s fish and wildlife department for three months.

“I’m going to do some research into other means of determining wintering elk populations,” Green said. “I see no harm in doing that.”

Cut in the Spokane edition.