Utah helicopter crash survivors' conditions upgraded

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An electronics technician injured this week in a Coast Guard helicopter crash in the Utah mountains is out of critical condition and two of her crew mates also have been upgraded.

A spokeswoman at University Hospital in Salt Lake City said Friday doctors upgraded Petty Officer 2nd Class Gina Panuzzi to serious condition. Panuzzi, of Lacey, Wash., was the last member of the crew in critical condition after the crash Wednesday about 50 miles east of Salt Lake City.

Pilot Cmdr. Patrick Shaw of Juneau, Alaska and co-pilot Lt. Cmdr. Steven Cerveny of Lincoln, Neb., were upgraded from serious to fair condition.

The crew had been on security duty at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and was on its way back to base in Elizabeth City, N.C. when the helicopter crashed in a remote area accessible only by snowmobile.