Todd and Heidi Eldredge. (PHOTO: Courtesy of KSL-TV)
DRAPER, Utah — A Draper couple says they’re lucky to be alive after their small plane crashed prior to reaching the runway.
Todd and Heidi Eldredge were flying from Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Saturday when the plane’s oil temperature started heating up.
Things then went from bad to worse when they lost their engine near Bear Lake County Airport.
“I’ve had a few interesting incidents, but certainly never a crash landing before,” Todd Eldredge told KSL-TV while in the hospital. “About 500 feet above ground, it was evident that we were not going to make it, so I told my wife I loved her. I held her hand and told her to brace because this was going to be a rough one.”
The plane eventually went down and hit a fence post in the process. Eldredge says they were lucky to have landed in a marsh, surrounded by water. When they did go down, he says a number of people nearby rushed to help.
“You would’ve had to have been there to see how wonderful these people were,” said Eldredge.
The couple was initially taken to a local hospital and then transferred to the University of Utah Hospital.
They both suffered a broken back, but will be able to recover from the comfort of home.
Todd Eldredge calls the experience surreal and reiterates how lucky they are to be alive.
“First thing we did was held each other’s hands,” he explained. “I kissed her hand and said, ‘Hey, we’re OK.'”