Google Earth shot of the crash site provided by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

Twenty-five years after being the lone survivor of a tragic plane crash, Elk Grove resident Carol Davis has donated $50,000 to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, whose Search and Rescue personnel found her lying on a hill near Kneeland in the aftermath of the crash.

Davis was coming to Humboldt County with her husband Walt and another couple, Merle and Ima Stone, on April 7, 1990. Merle and Walt were car dealers flying up for a meeting, and on the morning of the crash, with Merle Stone piloting the Beechcraft A36, the fog was especially thick.

According to news reports at the time, the plane was approaching the Arcata/Eureka Airport at too low an altitude, and it crashed into a mountainous area about a mile from the Kneeland landing strip. Davis’ husband was killed instantly, as were Merle and Ima Stone. Carol Davis recalled the incident in a phone interview with the Outpost yesterday.

“I was the lone survivor,” she said. “And I was on fire, so I rolled in wet grass.” She said the impact with the ground was severe, and she suffered a broken back and severe burns, which required numerous plastic surgeries. She lay injured on the wet hillside for what “seemed like forever,” she said. But early that afternoon Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call from the Federal Aviation Administration, which had lost radio contact with the flight.

“My rescue was fantastic, absolutely fantastic,” Davis said. The donation is being made as a symbol of her gratitude, she added. The Board of Supervisors today is scheduled to accept Davis’s donation, which is slated to purchase equipment for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Unit and the Humboldt Sheriff’s Posse.

Here’s a press release from the HCSO:

On 12-31-2014 the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received an unexpected donation in the amount of $50,000 dollars from Carol C. Davis, who now lives in Elk Grove, California. Mrs. Davis was expressing her gratitude, because members of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office came to her rescue on April 7, 1990 after a plane crash near the Kneeland airport.

On April 7, 1990, Carol Davis along with three other people were flying to Humboldt County to attend a Chevrolet car dealership meeting. They were all flying inside of a Beechcraft A36 aircraft. Merle Stone was the pilot of the aircraft and his wife Ima Stone was a passenger. Carol Davis was traveling with her husband, Walt Davis, who owned several Chevrolet dealerships in California. Both couples were friends and were coming to Humboldt County for the meeting.

On April 7, 1990, at about 12:30 p.m. the Sheriff’s Office sent two deputies to the Kneeland airport, Kneeland to check for an overdue aircraft. The Sheriff’s Office had received a phone call from FAA about an aircraft that was on instrument approach to the Arcata/Eureka airport 12 miles to the south when it lost radio contact. The two deputies just happened to be in the Showers Pass area near Kneeland on routine mountain patrol at the time of the call.

When deputies arrived near the Kneeland airport at 2:00 p.m. they saw a small amount of smoke coming from a hillside near the airport. The deputies were able to access a dirt road towards the smoke. When deputies arrived on scene they discovered the wreckage of a small aircraft on the hillside, which was on fire. The deputies then saw a female subject lying on the ground about 40 feet away from the aircraft wreckage waving her hands and yelling for help.

Deputies immediately went to her location and identified her as Carol Davis. Deputies said Carol was conscious and talking and was complaining about being cold. Davis was rendered first aid and medical personnel were immediately contacted to respond to the scene along with the Fire Department. When medical arrived on scene Carol was transported to a local hospital. Tragically Carol’s husband Walt and Merle and Ima Stone did not survive the crash. The cause of the crash was determined to be too low of an approach causing the plane to hit trees.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office wants to express their gratitude on the generous and thoughtful donation from Carol Davis. The Davis family requested the money be used to purchase much needed equipment for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Unit and the Humboldt Sheriff’s Posse.