15 months ago
REDDING, CA - Federal investigators believe nine people on board a firefighting helicopter that crashed Tuesday night northwest of Redding were killed.
There were 13 people on the Sikorsky S-61N when it went down at about 7:30 p.m., investigators for the Federal Aviation Administration believe. Four of those people suffered serious burns and nine others were missing.
The FAA believes the missing people were killed. The helicopter had gone into the remote area 35 miles northwest of Redding to pick up firefighters battling the Iron Complex Fires in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The pilot and two firefighters were at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. William Coultas was listed in critical condition at the UCD Burn Unit. Jonathan Frohreich was upgraded to serious condition Wednesday. The third survivor, Michael Brown was listed in fair condition in the hospital's surgical intensive care area.
Another injured firefighter, identified as Richard Schroeder, was in serious condition at Mercy Medical Center Redding.
The helicopter is registered to Carson Helicopters with offices in Pennsylvania and Oregon.
News10/KXTV
