OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — A Camp Pendleton marine says he was the first person to the scene of a skydiving plane crash in Oceanside that left two men hospitalized Thursday afternoon.
According to military officials, Sgt. Morgan Vohs, an open-water safety craft coxswain with G-7 Expeditionary Operations Training Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, was traveling home on Highway 76 when he witnessed the plane going down just short of the runway at Oceanside Municipal Airport.
“As soon as it hit, I just immediately pulled over and jumped the 76 and ran over to the crash,” said Vohs. He also says his fight-or-flight response kicked in and his response was to fight – to get in there and help.
After helping both crash victims and aiding them, Vohs tried to keep them calm until medical personnel arrived at the scene.
Vohs says he when he went to check on the co-pilot, the door was damaged and hard to open.
“I had to pull the [door] handle, and I was able to squeeze my finger underneath it and just kind of yank that door open. Luckily it wasn’t too bent up and I could get into it.”
After recounting the crash, the marine says he did what anyone else would do in that situation, and he values his Marine Corps training, which provided him the knowledge he needed to help.
“Every Marine goes through it in boot camp. It’s called CLS, Combat Life Saving,” said Vohs. “Every Marine knows the basics of medical training. It’s just second nature.”
