Plane crashes in Cache County

HYRUM –Police say a man involved in a plane crash in Cache County should consider himself lucky.  Investigators say another pilot just happened to watch the plane go down, and helped officers save the injured man.

The crash happened near Hardware Ranch, east of Hyrum in Blacksmith Fork Canyon at nearly 10:15 this morning.  Cache County Sheriff Chad Jensen is not releasing the name of the pilot, or where the man was going, but, Jensen can confirm the pilot was traveling alone.

“It’s an XCub, fixed-wing, single engine plane.  It’s a two-passenger plane, but, in this instance, it was just the pilot in the plane” Jensen says.

 

Jensen says the pilot was extremely lucky that another pilot was flying near the crash, and witnessed the whole thing.  It was the second pilot who told officers where to go.

“He (the injured man) actually never made a call.  Whether his beacon never went off, or he called for help, the only way we got notified was from the other pilot who

witnessed the crash,” according to Jensen, adding, “The other pilot probably saved his life, regardless of what his injuries are.”

Two helicopters, one from Life Flght, the other from the Department of Public Safety, were dispatched to the crash site.

“Life Flight certainly beat all of us to the scene where they were able to get the pilot, stabilize him and transport him to McKay Dee Hospital,” Jensen says.

The right wing of the plane was broken off, likely due to impact, but, apart from that, Jensen says the rest of the plane was intact.  The FAA and the NTSB will determine the cause of the crash.