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CNN Live At Daybreak

U.S. Air Force Reserve Crew Turns From Rescuers to Rescuees

Aired May 31, 2002 - 05:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A U.S. Air Force reserve crew turned from rescuers to rescuees, I should say, when their helicopter crashed on Mount Hood, Oregon. The group had been dispatched to rescue six climbers injured when they fell into a crevasse. Three other climbers were killed in that fall.

CNN affiliate KGW had live coverage of the helicopter crash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have a whole lot of wiggle room there if anything goes wrong. Well, I didn't see anybody go up -- look out! Look out, guys! There we are, talking about things going wrong. Hang on fellows. Oh, my goodness! Oh, that is horrible. Good lord. Oh, fellows. Oh, my goodness. You're watching this live, folks. Oh, if only this was a movie.

JEFF LIVICK, TIMBERLINE SKI PATROL: Io felt the rotor wash kind of dissipate, at which point I looked up. The cable was falling out of the helicopter and the helicopter's rotors started hitting the walls. Things flew everywhere, started rolling down the hill, bodies flying out. Basically the most incredible thing I've ever witnessed in my life.

I watched one guy take two entire flips in the helicopter, hanging outside of it until his web gunner's belt finally broke, at which point it just left him sitting in the snow. And each consecutive roll left one more person sitting in the snow.

So this helicopter finally came to rest upside down with five people just sitting in the snow kind of wondering what in the heck had just happened.

CHAD HASHBARGER, WITNESS: It was like a movie, you know? You see these kind of action movies, that's what it kind of looked like. And it was amazing that none of the propellers or nothing hit any of us. You know, for that type of situation to happen, I mean no one got hurt from it, which is amazing itself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my goodness. Oh, that is horrible. Good Lord.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: That man you heard was right. Even though no one was hit by the propeller blades, five people in the chopper are hurt. One remains in critical condition this morning.

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