When your car falls over a 700-foot cliff and smashes into a pile on the rocks below, you can’t just call a local towing company or a friend with a jerk strap to pull you out. On Monday, a ground cleanup crew and helicopter removed the crushed remains of a vehicle that fell unoccupied into Devil’s Canyon at the end of May.
In the weeks following the accident, which reportedly happened because of an emergency brake failure, the car insurance company hired Aircraft Recovery Solutions of Mountain Home, Idaho, to remove the mangled wreck.
Chuck Ceccarelli of Aircraft Recovery Solutions said he travels around the world to conduct recovery jobs for celebrities and tricky or unique removal situations. The Devil’s Canyon accident fit the bill, with the unrecognizable 2006 Ford Escape hybrid SUV wrapped around a juniper tree about 700 feet below the canyon rim and debris scattered over 100 yards. The site was only accessible by boat from the area of the canyon near the Montana-Wyoming border on Crow reservation land.
A four-man crew secured a rope path for climbing stability from the canyon bank to the crash site. The hybrid vehicle was disabled and the two large batteries removed by a high-voltage vehicle specialist selected for the crew, Ceccarelli said. The vehicle sat for a day to allow any voltage to be released from its frame. Crewmembers wore high voltage rubber gloves and stayed several feet away from some parts of the car that could still hold a charge capable of blowing off an appendage, Ceccarelli said.
They then collected debris in sacks to later be loaded into cargo nets for transport.
At about 10:15 a.m. Monday, a Kmax helicopter from Central Helicopters in Belgrade, Mont., flew from a staging area at Devil’s Canyon overlook to the site where the crew of four rigging experts was standing by. The helicopter flew at the perfect time to miss several storms that rolled through the area, flying in clear, calm weather.
According to manufacturer Kaman Aerospace’s Website, the Kmax is designed to perform repetitive external lifting with loads of up to 6,000 pounds. The Kmax employs two intermeshing rotors to fly.
The copter hovered near the canyon wall and dropped a line to the ground crew. They fastened the line to a 3,000-pound piece of the SUV and cut it from the juniper tree. The helicopter flew off to the staging area to drop it off, returning moments later for two more loads.
The operation went off without a hitch as Ceccarelli, National Park Service rangers and a representative from the insurance company watched and photographed the scene from below on a boat. The car insurance company requested not to be named in this article.
Aside from guaranteeing to find a way to remove any wreck, Ceccarelli said, his job is to make sure the environment is not impacted and everything is put back the way his crew found it. After removing shrapnel and the mangled vehicle, they treated the canyon bank with Spahg Sorb – a spray made up of microorganisms that feed on fuel and other contaminants that could otherwise leech into the ground and water.
Though the project was a challenge and the vehicle was sitting on a steep and rocky slope, “it could’ve been a lot worse,” Ceccarelli said. The team discussed other options to remove the wreckage, such as cutting it apart and backpacking out to the boat in 30- to 50-pound pieces or using a winch to pull it up and over the canyon ridge. Ceccarelli said both other options were possible, but using the helicopter was the right way to do the job.
Ceccarelli said his crew did a great job and the operation was a success. He thanked the NPS for their assistance and said he would probably be back in Lovell for recreation after spending time in Big Horn Canyon and hearing about other local areas.
NPS ranger Jessica Korhut said she was impressed with the insurance company’s quick action to remove the wreck and their concern for the environment.
Two young ladies, Naomi and Lisa Patrick of Billings, said the unoccupied SUV began rolling toward the edge of the canyon rim while they were out sightseeing and testing if the vehicle could navigate the rocks and off-road conditions in the area on Sunday, May 24. The SUV fell off the cliff after the parking brake reportedly failed. They had full insurance coverage on the vehicle. No foul play is suspected, according to a representative of the car insurance company.