Driver hit by crop duster plane in Sutter County discusses her experience
SUTTER COUNTY — Dee Arata has a story like no other.
She was on Nicolaus Avenue in Sutter County, a rural road she takes to avoid dangerous highway traffic, but as she passed Moe's Crop dusting service, she saw a plane having trouble taking off and heading straight for her truck.
The crop duster clipped a fence and then the landing gear smashed into Dee's truck, crushing the driver's side as a wheel flew off the plane. It was so unreal that she didn't think her boss believed her.
"I'm like bawling, looking at my truck, like, 'My truck is totaled. Oh, my God, I'm so sorry.' And she's like, 'Don't be sorry. You figure you're s--- out.' "
Confused and panicked on the phone with 911, Dee sat surrounded by airbags with her truck so caved in. She couldn't get out.
"The questions were like, 'What's your 1st name?' 'What's your last name?' And I'm like that is the last of my concern right now. Like, my concern is getting out of this vehicle," she said.
But if there's anyone who knows how to handle an emergency, Dee is an OR nurse.
"The nursing gear kicks on, and I'm like, 'Oh, my God! Where's the plane?' " she said.
Panicked but not hurt, and even more incredible, the one who helped her get out of her smashed truck was the pilot.
"I'm like, 'Are you the pilot?' And he's like, 'Yeah. Are you OK?' And I was like, 'I'm all right. Are you OK?' And he's like, 'Yeah.' And his eyes were filled with tears, and he's like, 'Can I hug you?' And I was like, 'Absolutely,' " Dee said of the encounter.
A moment of relief was now followed by emotion. Dee went back to the crash site just to take it all in and even ask herself if there was anything she could've done differently.
"What could I have done to prevent it?" she said. "And just knowing that could have been the last spot where I was alive."