6A Down in CA 4/22 (pilot injured)

Paul Rosales sent me these emails last night. Apparently Bill Bishop from the Houston, TX area. Thoughts/prayers for a quick recovery.

Saw the breaking coverage here in San Diego yesterday. The plane was upside down, and pretty unidentifiable, but the tail section was still intact, and it sure looked to me like an RV, but I really couldnt be sure by the quick glance of the news footage. Very happy to hear he was alive - 10' lower and I dont think it would have tuned out as well. The plane hit a shallow shelf in the mountainside - you could easily see where he basically skidded in through 40-50 feet of 3-4' high brush. Any lower and it would have been steep hillside. I'm really not sure how the plane ended up wheels up, but it may have cartwheeled that way.

Praying for a full recovery -

San Diego Union Tribune article

sending good thoughts in the pilots direction

Just off the phone w/Rosie (who just visited hospital with Gary Sobek and a few others).

Bill has two broken legs and a broken arm. Blood pressure good and brain scan shows no trama. Sedated now but was talking with emergency crews after accident.

Critical but stable. Doc says two more days and they'll say he's out of the woods.

6A down

Doug,

Great news considering it sounds like it could have been worse!

Rosie please pass along our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Bill.

update from Rosie

I'm just in from San Diego (Montgomery Field) and flew in with Trish Russell (lead), Gary Sobek and Laird Owens. Many thanks to Ed Perry for the pickup/delivery. After getting past the receptionist (who would not even say if he was admitted because Billy is a trauma patient), I talked with the admitting charge nurse. After explaining we were his friends and that we'd flown in from all over California, she caved in with some information.

I got hold of Bill Hicks who came down to meet us, and Bill filled us in; Billy has two broken legs with splints below both knees (one leg was a compound fracture). The right arm is completely immobilized as is the left wrist. Billy also numerous stitches to the head, and there is not a part on his body that is not bruised or cut. CAT scans of the brain all appear normal, and today he is heavily sedated. He's still in critical condition but stable (blood pressure 120/80). No internal injuries that we know of, thank goodness.

There is still one more surgery for the left wrist to come. He's still not out of the woods, and we are hoping in 2 more days, he'll probably be over the 'hump'. Billy will be at Scripps Mercy Hospital for the foreseeable future, and I will get an address/room number out when it becomes available.

From what Ed Perry saw on TV, the Fire Chief who got to the wreckage first yelled out to the others something like 'This is a bad one, call the coroner", and Billy yells out "Hey, I'm alive...get me out of here.." and even gave some direction on how to get him out. Estimates are that he was trapped upside down in the plane for about 45 to an hour.

I will keep you all posted via the list, and for now, please keep Billy in your prayers, Rosie

Update from Bill's daughter (4/25/05 1pm CST)

This is Ann Bishop, Bill's daughter. I wanted to write everyone on his email list to inform you that Bill had a plane accident Friday night. He is alive and in a hospital in San Diego.

He was on his way home and was about 7 or so miles out from the airport in San Diego when his buddy, Bill Hicks, flying behind him lost radio contact with him. Apparently he was flying too low and ran into a mountain. There were low clouds. When Mr. Hicks could not contact him, Mr. Hicks turned around, landed and notified authorities. Dad was airlifted by helicopter from the wreckage.

Dad has broken legs below the knees, a broken arm/wrist, a fractured neck and two compressed fractured vertebrae. He does not have any brain damage and apparently speaking when he was brought to the hospital. He has already had surgery on his right leg and is scheduled to have surgery today on the other leg and his arm. He is wiggling his toes and squeezing his hand. He is heavily sedated and on a respirator to help him breathe from all the anesthesia. He has a slight fever today.

My brother Boyd and his wife arrived in San Diego last night. The rest of the family is waiting to make a decision on when to go out there.

The accident is all over the San Diego news channels. You can find a video of the rescue at www.nbcsandieogo.com search the news for "plane crash".

If you have any further questions, please do not email back to this address as I will not be checking it very often. Rather, you may contact me at 713-416-3757.

Thank you,
Ann Bishop

Update from Bill's daughter (4/26/05)

Tuesday 04/26/05

I wanted to update everyone on Dad's condition. He is doing well considering what he has been through. He did not have surgery today. One is scheduled for tomorrow on his right wrist (possibly an ankle). He may have surgery on his neck Friday where they will put a metal plate between his C2 and C3 vertebrae. His fever is down, his vital signs are good. He does have some fluid in his lungs but they are removing that periodically.

Boyd said today that he is still squeezing your hand and he even slightly opened his eyes. Still slightly moving his legs/toes and hands. They have him on a new bed that turns his body which helps keep his muscles and lungs active. He is still on a respirator, but it is only providing about 50% oxygen and that the doctors are trying to slowly reduce that to bring him onto his own power.

We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. We will keep you posted.

Ann 713-416-3757

4/28 update on Bill

Thursday 04/28/05

Dad is doing fine considering what he's been through! There have not been any significant changes. He had a small surgery yesterday afternoon where they went in and did some "cleaning" on his ankle and wrist. He's continuing to squeeze hands and even raised a couple of fingers when the nurse asked him to.

My Mom wanted me to let everyone know that her church is having a blood drive this Saturday. This blood drive was scheduled prior to Dad's accident, but it comes at a good time. Dad had received some blood (or still could be..not sure) due to blood loss during the accident and surgery. Your contributions would be greatly appreciated! Here is the info:

Saint Matthew's United Methodist Church
4300 North Shepherd
Houston, TX
Saturday 04/30/05 @ 9am -
For more information call 832-455-5479

Thank you for all of your support and prayers.

Ann Bishop
713-416-3757

God Speed the recovery!!

Roberta

4/30 update on Bill: Send Cards/Pictures

From his daughter, Ann Bishop:
*******
Hello,
Dad is doing about the same. No significant changes. We met with one of his doctors this morning and he gave us a review of everything. He is scheduled to have more cleaning of his right arm and legs tomorrow and Monday have his neck surgery. The doctors want to do everything possible to prevent any infection in his wounds. They are taking one day at a time and are not rushing any procedures.

I asked the doctor that if everything proceeds positively, how long would they expect him to be in the hospital and he said 1-2 more weeks in ICU and at least 1 month up to 3 months in the hospital. He wanted us to know both the best and worse case scenarios.

Nurse Carol said she will move him to a "private" room within ICU tonight so mom and I can be more comfortable. There are chairs and a tv in the room. We can post cards on the wall, so I want to give everyone the hospital address (they do not allow flowers or balloons in ICU). If you'd like to send pictures, we will tape them to the wall as well, so that when he really opens his eyes he can "see" all his friends who are pulling for him!

Scripps Mercy Hospital
Attn: Charles W. (Bill) Bishop, Surgical ICU
4077 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103

Bill Bishop update Sunday, 5/1/05

From Daughter Ann Bishop

Dad is doing the same today. I am no doctor or nurse, so if I mispell any words or use the wrong medical terms, please excuse me. Being an Aggie doesn't help either!

His blood pressure was a little high this morning 180/90 or so, but they increased his Ativant some and it came down quickly and stayed within a good range today. His temp ranged from 99-101 degrees today.

He did not have a procedure to clean out his legs and arm today. Not sure why. He is scheduled to have an anterior surgical fusion on his C2 and C3 vertabrae tomorrow. They are going through the front of his neck to put in some sort of plate. They had not scheduled a time for that when we left the hospital this afternoon. We will call them this evening and get the time.

The nurse angled his bed up slightly today which decreased the swelling in his head/face, but increased it in his feet and hands! She said the slight tilt would help his lungs and chest clear out better.

I hope I have everyone on the email list now. I had deleted a few by accident so some of you may have missed a couple of updates. My apologies.

Mom is doing well considering the stress of flying out here and then seeing Dad lying there like he is. We are trying to stay busy in between our visits to the hospital. We found a Target today and shopped a bit there. She found a shoe store (of course) that she wants to go to tomorrow. I'm sure we will manage to shop there for a couple of hours!