Story Published: Aug 31, 2010 at 11:17 AM PST
Story Updated: Sep 1, 2010 at 10:15 AM PST
KAMIAH - A helicopter crash in Kamiah Tuesday morning claimed the lives of the pilot and two Idaho Fish and Game fisheries biologists.
According to Fish and Game officials, an apparent mechanical malfunction in the helicopter resulted in the crash at about 9:30 a.m.
Larry Barrett, 47, of Lewiston, who worked for Fish and Game since 1985, and Dani Schiff, 34,of Lewiston, who worked for Fish and Game since 1997. were killed, along with the pilot. The pilot was Perry J. Krinitt, 43, of Belgrade, Mont.
“This is a sad day for Fish and Game and our families,” Deputy Director Jim Unsworth said. “Larry and Dani, our hearts go out to their families and the family of the pilot,” Deputy Director Virgil Moore said.
The crash occurred behind the U.S. Forest Service building in Kamiah. The biologists were counting salmon redds – spawning nests – on the nearby Selway River. Fish and Game said their biologists have counted redds annually since the 1950s using fixed wing and helicopters. The counts are the primary index of the status of naturally spawning salmon. Fish and Game said aerial counts are the only to way to count many of Idaho’s remote and wilderness streams.
Eyewitness Erik Holt said the helicopter was making popping sounds and that material was coming off it before it nosedived straight down.
Others who who saw it come down say it crashed just three blocks from a school, and that the pilot struggled to keep it from crashing into that school or other residences. It ended up coming down in a driveway, damaging a trailer and the corner of the home.
Tia Hansen, who lives on Baker Road about a mile from the crash site saw the helicopter when it was in trouble. " I saw three guys with orange suits on when it came right over our house," she said. "I heard three pops and saw stuff coming off the helicopter. My husband was working in the garden and he looked up and heard three more pops and more stuff falling off. Then it went down."
Officials say no one on the ground was hurt.
The helicopter belongs to Leading Edge, a Clarkston company that contracts services to Idaho Fish and Game.
The last fatal Fish and Game aircraft accident was in December 2000 when a wildlife biologist was killed when the helicopter he was in went down while on a wildlife count in northern Idaho.
Earlier this year, on January 8, a helicopter carrying a pilot and two Idaho Fish and Game biologists crashed in the Kelly Creek area on the North Fork of the Clearwater River. None of the three people on board suffered life-threatening injuries.
Fish and Game said their biologists fly about 1,000 hours annually in aerial surveys, wildlife counts and capturing wildlife for research. Fish and Game takes safety seriously; all personnel are required to take safety training before flying and adhere to strict safety procedures.
ISP, the Forest Service, City of Kamiah Marshals, Kamiah Fire, Police and Ambulance and the Idaho County Sheriff's Office joined the Lewis Co. Sheriff's Office in responding to the crash.
Photos below courtesy Robert Millage:
