2 in Plane Crash Rescued

Rescue workers used ropes and pulleys to free two injured people from their small plane as it teetered in the crook of a steep valley wall after crashing in the Santa Susana Mountains on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old pilot of the Cessna 172 shouted in pain as firefighters hoisted her in a basket through dense chaparral and up 40 feet of rock face, then to a fire road overlooking Santa Clarita.

Minutes later, firefighters pulled up the pilot’s 52-year-old passenger. Rescue helicopters couldn’t hover directly overhead for fear of sending the plane tumbling 100 feet into the gorge.

The victims had numerous broken bones, bruises and cuts and were flown to hospitals, authorities said. Friend Eddie Blair identified the pilot as Bieke Lieckens, a certified flight instructor.

Blair said Lieckens and her student, Tony Shin, flew from Van Nuys Airport to Camarillo to get flying practice and pick up spare parts.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the plane was returning from Camarillo on Tuesday when it crashed just before 2 p.m. a few miles north of De Soto Avenue.

Blair said Lieckens used her cell phone to call members of her flying club at Van Nuys Airport. Lieckens also called 911, county Fire Chief Michael Singer said. Looking at the crash site, Blair said Lieckens’ experience may have saved her life.

“She’s a very good pilot,” he said. “It looks like she got herself into a safe position without being killed.”

About 30 members of the Los Angeles city and county fire departments and the Sheriff’s Department improvised a pulley system to rescue the pair.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.