Caltrans Equipment Operator I

Department of Transportation

2/2/2012

Special Service Award (Silver)

On February 2, 2012, around noon, California Department of Transportation Equipment Operators Dain Hartman and Dave Ackley were working on a rural section of Highway 36 in Humboldt County near the Dinsmore Airport when they noticed a small airplane on the horizon rocking back and forth, heading towards the airport’s landing strip. As they watched, the airplane crossed the highway and touched down on the landing strip, bounced, went halfway down the runway, and then bounced again. The plane then started to climb, but suddenly nose-dived past the end of the runway and crashed on a grassy patch near the highway. Mr. Ackley and Mr. Hartman tried to radio for emergency services, but there was no signal. They quickly hopped over the airport fence and found a student pilot who had been thrown from the plane seconds before the crash. The flight instructor was still in the cockpit, badly injured. The student pilot called 911 from his cell phone, but was in such a state of shock that he handed his cellphone to Mr. Ackley. Suddenly, the front of the airplane was on fire. The student pilot and Mr. Ackley pulled the wounded flight instructor from the cockpit while Mr. Hartman sprayed the airplane with a fire extinguisher. The flames grew higher and when they reached the wings where the fuel is stored, the airplane exploded, sending a giant fireball into the sky, higher than nearby power lines. The wind blew the flames and the men moved the wounded flight instructor farther away as the surrounding grass began to catch on fire. Luckily, help soon arrived to administer first aid and extinguish the grass fire. With no regard for their own safety, Equipment Operators Dain Hartman and Dave Ackley’s heroic service saved the lives of a student pilot and a flight instructor when their airplane crashed.