Duchesne
County plane crash survivors share their miracle in the sky story
By Garna Mejia, KSL TV | Posted
- Aug. 9, 2020 at 7:46 p.m.
5PM: Duchesne County plane crash survivors
share their miracle in the sky
KSL TV
MOUNTAIN
HOME — A small plane carrying six people crashed near Moon Lake in Duchesne County on Friday, and
miraculously, everyone survived. The plane’s pilot spoke to KSL from his
hospital room about the crash and what happened for all six people to survive.
Shadrach
Feild shared that he trained a lot for a worst-case scenario, and while that
training kicked in, he felt divine intervention’s hand.
“I
absolutely know that God had his hand in this,” Shadrach Feild said. “It’s a
miracle.”
When
you see what’s left of Feild’s Cessna T210M, it’s hard to believe that everyone
on board survived.
“For
the terrain that we were in and how it all unfolded, it takes more than a good
pilot to get through this,” he said.
Six
people were on board the plane including Feild, his wife Jazlyn, their family
friends Betsy and Gentry Mikesell, and their 16-year-old teenage twin sons,
Brock and Boston Mikesell.
The
group said they were out flying near Moon Lake on Friday morning.
“When I
came over the corner over the lake, there was a lot of wind coming at me, which
isn’t normally a big deal,” Feild said. “My plane — a Turbo charged 210 — has
plenty of horsepower.
That’s
when Feild said the engine gave out.
“I
pushed the throttle in and there was no power,” he said. “It kept running, but
there was just no power.”
“It
took about 12 seconds from that point to the time we touched down,” said Betsy
Mikesell, explaining that they only had moments to brace for impact.
Meanwhile,
Shad prepared the plane and crew for an emergency landing.
“I
remember telling them I would take care of them,” Feild said, holding back
emotions. “We made it across the lake.”
“Because
Shad was so calm, I just thought he was landing it. He never said, ‘we’re going
to crash,’” Mikesell said.
As Shad
looked for a landing spot, he spotted two possible locations. The first, he
said, was a beach, but there were people on it and he feared his tires wouldn’t
handle the sand well. The second option was an open field.
“I
thought it would be better to try and land in the sage brush flat,” Feild said.
“I didn’t want to flip over and hurt the people in the back.”
“For
some reason in my mind, I was just so calm,” Mikesell said. “I just remember
bracing and holding onto the seat in front of me.”
Mikesell
said she was the first one out of the plane as nearby campers ran to their
rescue.
“Someone
said that you could feel angels everywhere, and I feel like that is what we
experienced, “ Mikesell said. “Someone else said that it looked like we were
just being carried down to the ground, and I swear that is literally what
happened.”
“I lost
my dad about four years ago, and I know that he helped,” Feild said. “I could
feel him the whole time.”
Brock
managed to walk away from the crash.
Betsy
said Shad and Gentry both suffered T12 back injuries and remain hospitalized.
Gentry also has a broken femur, tibia, and shattered ankle. Additionally, he
suffered a broken nose and 3 fractures on his face.
Shad’s
wife Jazyln broke her arm and wrist.
Boston,
the other twin, fractured a hip.
And
Betsy said she has four broken ribs on each side, a neck injury and bruised
lungs.
Despite
their injuries, they said they’re grateful to be alive and for the help of first
responders and the campers who ran to their aid.
“Not
only where we landed but that the plane died where it did — had it have been 45
seconds earlier, we all would’ve died,” Feild said. “There was nowhere to land
45 seconds earlier. It was God’s hand.”
The
Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.
No comments:
Post a Comment