Three Suffer Minor Injuries In Helicopter Crash

An MD-500D helicopter operated as a civil aircraft crashed into the side of Rogers Peak in the Panamint Mountains on the morning of Saturday, March 7th. There were injuries but no fatalities. The three occupants of the aircraft were airlifted by a helicopter from China Lake Naval Air Station to the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital, where they were treated and released. The helicopter was transporting personnel and equipment to repair the NPS repeater on Rogers Peak. There were no NPS personnel on the flight. The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Since this was an end product contract for maintenance of the repeater, the NTSB will post any further information on the mishap to their web site as it is released. Death Valley rangers coordinated the rescue and recovery efforts with China Lake NAS.  Ranger Matt Martin served as incident commander.