Shortly after 12 noon on Saturday, October 30, 2004, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue's C-Shift responded to Herlong Airport to the report of an aircraft crash on the south end of the runway, with multiple patients.
First on scene was Brush and Rescue 32 who immediately alerted Fire Comm to the situation. Upon arrival, Brush 32 assumed command and relayed to Fire Comm that they had a small single engine Cessna that crashed into the woods, there where multiple patients and the plane was leaking fuel. Shortly after, Engines 22, 32, Crash 5615, 5616, 5617, and Engine 56, Squad 32, and Fire 6 arrived on scene. Upon further investigation, Rescue 32 had determined there to be five patients with a sixth patient dead on scene.
The patients were quickly triaged and transported to local hospitals after Squad and Engine 32 and Engine 22 gained access to the interior of the aircraft. During this time, the Crash units layed out a blanket of foam while the Haz-Mat Team from Station 7 secured the fuel leak.
The total response from JFRD included two brush trucks, two division chiefs, one battalion chief, three district chiefs, five engines, five rescues, one squad, one safety truck, three tankers, and two training officers, along with the JFRD Hazardous Materials Team, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the Jacksonville Airport Administration, and FAA.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
