A Story Of A Pilot, An Airplane Crash And Recovery

The night had grown late and dark when two off-duty police officers experienced engine failure in their private airplane, flying thousands of feet above Lordsburg, New Mexico. It was a night that ended at University Medical Center of El Paso.

One of the officers, the pilot, had been flying since he was 11 years old and was calm as the plane glided silently without power toward the hills near Lordsburg. He trained for this. But he knew impact with the ground was inevitable as the plane rushed to meet the rocky terrain below.

Rescued hours later by US Border Patrol and transported by helicopter to UMC's Scherr Legate Level 1 Trauma Center (the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the region), the pilot said he knew he was in bad shape as he was being transported from the helicopter into the hospital. 

He had heard the same words spoken by emergency medical teams for medical cases he previously worked on. 

He suffered extensive injuries that required immediate care by UMC's trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, rehabilitation team, and many others. 

The harrowing details of the crash, a discussion with the surgeons about the medical procedures and actions taken, as well as a feature on the pilot's life in this edition of Better Health In The Borderland.

Production Team:
Writer and narrator: Ryan Mielke, Director of Public Affairs, University Medical Center of El Paso
Audio engineer: Diego Muniz, Manager of Video and Audio Production, UMC

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