Coroner case #06-9579TC - 06-9581TC -- On 12-10-06, at 6:02 PM, The San Bernardino Sheriff Department received several telephone calls from motorists on Interstate 15 reporting an explosion and fire on a hillside east of the interstate approximately two miles south of the Oak Hills exit in the Cajon Junction area (Near the top of the Cajon pass). The investigation revealed that a Mercy Air helicopter was flying back to the Victorville Airport (Mercy Air base) when it collided with the hillside. The personnel on board were identified as Pilot Paul LaTour, a 46 year-old resident of Apple Valley, Air Medic Jerald Miller, a 40 year-old resident of Apple Valley and Registered Nurse Katrina Kish, a 42 year-old resident of Yucaipa. All three were confirmed deceased at 6:27 PM. The National Transportation Safety Board, FAA, San Bernardino Sheriff Department as well as Mercy Air Aviation Personnel are investigating the incident. The Coroner Division will be conducting autopsies to determine the exact cause of death. [121106 1910 TC]
They had just dropped a man off at Loma Linda Hospital who was involved in a motorcycle accident on Bear Valley Rd. in V.V. and was heading back to the airport. The fog was pretty thick and they flew into the side of the mountain.
Another sad part to this story is that about 1 or 2yrs ago a Deputy Sheriff was killed and his wife became a widow. She remarried a year or so later to a PARAMEDIC, guess who was on that chopper. Yep, the poor woman who married men that save peoples lifes has now been made a widow twice.
Condolences to the families.