CAA: GA News, "12-year old boy takes charge at California airport"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tuesday, November 5, 2002

12-year old boy takes charge at city airport
Credited with saving pilot from serious accident
By ANGELICA MARTINEZ
The San Bernardino (CA) Sun


Few 12-year-olds know about airplanes.

Even fewer can spot a possible aircraft crash before it happens.

Dustin Baker is one of them.

Following a familiar routine, Dustin showed up to volunteer at the
Redlands Municipal Airport on Sunday, a hobby he loves doing.

But unlike most weekend shifts, authorities said on that day Dustin
saved a man from what could have been a serious accident. 

Dustin met the pilot for the first time when the man arrived to fly a
blue ultra-light aircraft.

The pilot, whose name was not available, didn't have a radio or an
aircraft tail number to identify him, Dustin said.

Moments after the pilot departed, a man at the airport told Dustin that
a wheel had fallen from the ultra-light plane.

Dustin immediately went into action.

He found a woman at the Aero Tech Academy building next to the airport.
Together they made a sign alerting the pilot that his landing gear was
broken but the wind knocked it down, he said. 

Rather than waiting, Dustin jumped into a yellow GMC truck equipped with
sirens, lights and fire extinguishers and drove the truck out to the
runway.

He turned on the lights and notified other pilots flying around that the
runway was closed.

Knowing that the pilot didn't have a radio, Dustin figured he needed to
get close to the pilot to show him the wheel.

"I didn't see the ultra-light until 15 or 20 minutes later,' he said.
"When he flew by, I stood on top of the truck and showed the pilot the
wheel.'

The pilot looked at his rim and covered his eyes, Dustin said.

After flying over the runway three times, the pilot finally slowed down
enough and carefully landed the aircraft.

He only suffered some bruises.

Firefighters and police officers who learned of the landing gear
problems arrived after Dustin had taken control of the situation, police
said.

"For a 12-year-old to be so alert and attentive to what's going on, he
really did a great thing,' police spokeswoman Renee Groese said.

If he hadn't intervened, the possibilities of a major injury crash were
very likely, police said.

Dustin's mother, Lita, is not surprised.

"That's Dustin,' she said. "He's so attentive and inquisitive. I'm not
surprised, but I'm very proud.'

Ironically, Dustin recently asked airport officials what to do in the
case of an emergency.

Lita Baker, 34, said airport officials told him to take charge of the
situation.

"I don't know if they meant it literally, but he did it,' she said.

Lita Baker arrived soon after the aircraft safely landed. When she saw
Dustin, she feared he had done something wrong, she said.

"He thought he was going to be arrested for driving the truck,' she
said.

But police consider Dustin a hero.

"The Police Department wants to recognize the achievements of people,
especially young people when they do good deeds such as these,' Groese
said.


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