THREE KILLED IN VAN CRASH CAR POOL CARRYING JPL EMPLOYEES PLUNGES OFF ROAD.

Byline: Naush Boghossian and Gene Maddaus Staff Writers

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - Three Jet Propulsion Laboratory workers were killed and seven others injured early Wednesday when the carpool van taking them to work veered off a winding mountain road and tumbled hundreds of feet into a canyon.

The 10 workers had been taking the twice-daily shortcut popular among hundreds of Antelope Valley commuters when the van plunged off two-lane Angeles Forest Highway, killing JPL workers Jane Galloway, 49; Kerri Agey, 48; and Dorothy Forks, 53.

``It was gruesome. We got lots of trauma in one place,'' said Mike Leum, chief of search and rescue for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. ``But you go into clinical mode. What was so unusual was there were so many victims.''

The van's plunge was seen by another motorist who sought help from nearby California Highway Patrol officers who were waiting for a film crew.

The CHP officers climbed 300 feet to 400 feet down the steep canyon to reach the crumpled van, which sat upright on the canyon bottom, its roof collapsed from its long tumble, officials said.

Helicopters and about 100 personnel worked with rescue trucks with 1,500 feet of cable to bring up the injured, most of whom were unconscious. Rescuers had to cut open the wreckage to reach victims.

The fact that a motorist saw the crash and then quickly found CHP officers saved 20 minutes to 40 minutes in getting the victims to hospitals, officials said.

``As tragic as this is, there is a silver lining at the end of the day. It could have been worse,'' said Art Acevedo, assistant chief of the CHP southern division.

Some of the van's occupants were dozing when it ran off the road.

One employee, who suffered a broken leg and ankle, told his supervisor at the hospital that he slept through the crash.

``When he woke up, he thought he was at the gate but he was in the gully,'' said Fred Tomey, a supervisor on the Cassini interplanetary space probe team. ``He remembered sitting by the side and then a helicopter picked him up.''

JPL, which manages space missions from the Mars rovers to the Cassini probe, offered grief counseling to its employees.

``Things like this just stop everybody in their tracks ... It's like a family thing,'' JPL oceanographer William Patzert said.

Forks was an employee in JPL's human resources department, and Galloway was a manager in the business operations office. Agey was an administrator for Wackenhut Security, which works under contract to JPL.

Forks had worked at JPL for 14 years, Galloway for 10 years.

``It takes all kinds of people to explore the solar system,'' JPL spokesman Blaine Baggett said. ``Some of them are engineers, some scientists. But these accomplishments are made possible by the contributions of all of the professionals at JPL.

``The loss of Dorothy, Jane and Kerri is deeply felt by us all.''

The van - traveling a route sometimes dubbed the ``Palmdale 500'' - was about 13 miles from its destination about 6:30 a.m. when it veered off a curve, over a dirt shoulder and low earth berm, and into the canyon.

CHP officials said they don't know why the van ran off the road. There was no evidence to suggest that speed played a role in the crash, they said. The weather was foggy and the road damp, but there was no ice on the pavement and visibility was good, officers said.

``That's what our investigation will have to determine,'' said CHP Officer Vince Bell.

One woman died when she was thrown from the van and the other two died in the wreckage. Before the CHP officers arrived, an injured occupant tried to climb back up the slope to the road but didn't reach the top.

Helicopters were used to fly out the injured, who were taken to hospitals in Valencia, Mission Hills and Pasadena.

Among the least-seriously injured was Cheryl Allworth, 48, of Rosamond, who was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Medical Center in Valencia, where she was met by her husband.

The other occupants' names were not released immediately. Two were reported hospitalized in critical but stable condition - one with a broken back and another with a fractured neck. Two were reported in fair condition. The three others were expected to be sent home Wednesday.

Staff Writers Kimm Groshong and Sonya Geis contributed to this report.

Naush Boghossian, [phone]

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) A Fire Department helicopter lifts a passenger who was injured Wednesday when a van carrying JPL workers went off the Angeles Forest Highway. Three people died in the crash.

(2 -- color) A passenger in the JPL commuter van crash is hoisted up from the canyon Wednesday. Three people were killed and seven were injured in the early morning crash.

Walt Mancini/Staff Photographer

Map:

Van crash, three dead, seven injured

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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