Survivor describes final moments of deadly copter crash

While authorities confirmed today that eight firefighters and the pilot listed as missing in a fiery helicopter crash in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest are dead, one of four survivors provided chilling details about the horrific moments of the crash.

The Trinity County Sheriff's Department confirmed the deaths at a news conference this afternoon and said families were being notified. The sheriff's office has been trying to recover the remains of the victims at the site of the crash.

The Tuesday night crash took the life of a pilot of the helicopter, which is owned by Carson Helicopters of Grants Pass, Ore., and eight firefighters. All but one of the firefighters worked for Grayback Forestry of Merlin, Ore., a private firefighting firm that has contracts with the state to help fight fires.

It was unclear who the 11th passenger on board the aircraft was, but some reports indicated that it was an official with the Forest Service.

The co-pilot, identified as William Coultas, is the most seriously injured of the four. He is in critical condition at UC Davis Medical Center. Grayback employees Michael Brown, 20, and Jonathan Frohreich, 18, were also at Davis, where Brown was upgraded from serious to fair condition Wednesday afternoon and Frohreich was upgraded from critical to serious condition overnight.

Rich Schroeder, 42, is at Mercy Hospital in Redding, where his condition was upgraded Thursday to fair. Schroeder's mother, Linda Parks of Medford, Ore., said in an interview that her son told her a harrowing tale of death and survival in the burning wreckage of the helicopter.

Parks said Schroeder had chosen a seat behind the pilot. It was the end of a long day cutting firebreaks to try to stop a fire in a remote part of the National Forest.

The pilot had just returned from delivering 13 other firefighters back to their barracks, he said. Schroeder clicked his seat belt and the helicopter started rising from a clearing in a remote forested area roughly 70 miles east of Redding.

Somewhere between 200 and 300 feet off the ground, she said, he heard what no air passenger ever wants to hear - the pilot, in a panic.

"Duck! We're going down!" the pilot yelled.

Schroeder looked out the window in the split second of freefall, and thought he saw the helicopter crash through some branches. In a second, he was on the ground, trapped under burning metal and a body.

He was injured, but still was able to push the body - which was also on fire - and wriggle from his seat belt. The only way out was through a broken window. He smashed the window to make more room, and crawled out to escape the flames. Three others made it out.

"He didn't hear any sound before it happened - he said the whole thing was over in a flash of an eye," Parks said.

Doctors called Parks Tuesday night to report her son was injured, but going to make it. He suffered from a cracked scapula, fractured vertebra, cuts and bruises and would require stitches in his lips.

Parks asked her son how the other three men survived. Schroeder believes they also crawled out the window after he did.

Parks said her son didn't suffer any serious burns.

On Wednesday, Schroeder's girlfriend and three children - Kayla, 18, Cody, 16 and 3-year-old Ruby - traveled from Medford to Redding to comfort Schroeder.

"He's doing OK," Parks said. "He used to love helicopter rides - he thought they were awesome. I don't think he's going to say that anymore."