Student pilot survives crash, night
BILLINGS, MO The student, whose name was not released, crashed about 40 miles
south of Billings on Tuesday night and was rescued about 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday. He was taken to a Billings hospital with hypothermia but
did not appear to have any major injuries, said Jon Trapp, one of
the pilot's rescuers.
"He ended up hiking quite a ways in his shorts and tennis
shoes, in waist-high snow. He was very cold and cut up by the time
we found a place to land and could hike into him," said Trapp,
assistant coordinator of Carbon County Search and Rescue.
The small plane crashed into a forested slope on Big Pryor
Mountain during a solo training flight from Billings to Pryor, Wyo.
The Rocky Mountain College student stayed with the 2006 Piper
through the night. With overnight temperatures dropping close to
zero, Trapp said, the student wrapped himself in an orange tarp to
keep warm, and also was wearing a jacket and wool cap.
Rescuers on the ground had searched for the student through the
night, but Trapp said the Federal Aviation Administration initially
gave them coordinates that were about eight miles off.
The student used a cell phone to call his flight instructor
about 9 a.m. to report he survived the crash with a dislocated
shoulder and other minor injuries, said Mike Fergus, a spokesman
for the FAA's Northwest Mountain Region in Seattle.
Though it was not immediately clear why a call had not been made
earlier, cell phone service in the area is spotty.
The pilot started to hike out after he was spotted by rescue
planes, around the time he reached the flight instructor.
Dan Hargrove, director of aviation for Rocky, could not be
reached immediately for comment.
About 100 students are enrolled in Rocky's 10-year-old aviation
program, which offers degrees in aeronautical science and aviation
management. The Billings-based program has a fleet of eight Piper
and Beechcraft planes.