Two Redding-Area CHP Officers have been honored for their actions following a plane crash in Redding four years ago. On August 27th of 2020, a single engine Beechcraft Bonanza was taking off from Benton Airpark in West Redding when the plane went down in a canyon area just to the north of the runway across Placer Street, and sparked a brush fire. Officers Chad Smith and Jonathan Wion rushed to the scene and climbed down the steep, crush-filled ravine to reach the burning wreckage and pull two survivors from the flames. A secondary explosion happened as they were moving the two victims to a safe area where they started first aid. Two men died in the crash. They were the pilot, 59-year-old Michael Barry Garrett of Redding, who owned the Heavenly Doughnuts shops, and 37-year-old Navraj Singh Chatha of Rodeo. Officers Smith and Wion were two of six CHP Officers statewide who received the Governors State Employee Medal of Valor during a ceremony in Sacramento on Tuesday.
– Steve Gibson