CLEARWATER COUNTY, Idaho — On Wednesday, June 12, officers with the Clearwater County Sheriff's Office received a report from the Idaho Division of Aeronautics of an emergency beacon from a plane sending a signal from about 5 miles north of Elk River.
Deputies, EMS, and an available helicopter from Hillcrest Aviation rushed to the area. While they were on their way, a 911 distress call was made from someone who had picked up two people along the Basin Road. They were passengers on the crashed plane.
The caller drove the two passengers to Elk River to meet with EMS. Two Lifeflight helicopters were then requested to respond.
The two passengers were the 21 and 14 year old sons of the pilot, 54 year old Brian Orourk from Spokane. They explained that the plane had crashed and was on fire, and that they were unable to get their father out of the plane.
The plane was a small single engine Cessna according to the Sheriff's Office.
The Hillcrest helicopter was able to locate the site of the crash, but could not find a suitable place to land. They helped guide responders to the crash site, where they found that the pilot was deceased.
The fire was extinguished by responders, and the two injured passengers were transported to Sacred Heart in Spokane. The crash is still under investigation by the Sheriff's Office.
