MOUNTAIN GREEN, Utah — Rescuers said a pilot whose airplane crashed into a Utah canyon “miraculously” walked away from the crash and walked 6 miles for help.
The Mountain Green Fire Protection District shared photos of the wreckage of the plane on its Facebook page and said in the accompanying post that the aircraft went down into a canyon near Durst Mountain on Sunday afternoon.
The plane had taken off from the Morgan County Airport and was heading to Idaho, KSL reported.
In its Facebook post, the Mountain Green Fire Protection District said the pilot “miraculously walked away from the crash, then hiked about 6 miles to get cell service to call 911.”
“Normally with these situations, we have a great deal of difficulty of finding the aircraft or the people,” Mountain Green Fire Chief Brian Brendel told KSL. “In this case, he just kind of got out of his plane, dusted himself off and walked himself down this ATV road until he got into cellphone range.”
Firefighters on the scene were able to disable the batteries and address a fuel leak. The plane was still in one piece, but one of the fuel tanks ruptured in the crash, KSL reported.
Brendel told KSL that the pilot did such a good job landing the plane, that the authorities could just about “put some wheels on it and fly it right out of there.” Despite the exterior of the plane staying together, officials said the aircraft is likely a total loss and will need to be cut up to be removed from the area.
The pilot had bumps and bruises but was not severely injured and refused medical services, KSL reported.
“He’s pretty darn lucky,” Brendel told KSL. “He shouldn’t play the lottery ever again.”