For the week of March 17, 1999  thru March 23, 1999  

Local pilot crashes plane, walks away


By HANS IBOLD
Express Staff Writer

m17cover-airplane.jpg (14313 bytes)Fuel leakage from the wings caused some concern, so airport firefighters, armed with hoses, stood over the wreckage as Sun Valley Aviation officials hoisted the plane off the runway with a crane. The airport was closed for just under two hours.(Express photos by Willy Cook)

A student pilot walked away unscathed from his overturned Cessna after the plane he was trying to land at Friedman Memorial Airport on Thursday careened into a snow bank and flipped.

The pilot was Ketchum resident Tim Mott, according to Lou Sanders, assistant manager with the Boise Flight Standards District Office. The flight standards office is in charge of investigating the incident.

Sanders said that when the plane touched down about noon, Mott told airport officials he was not happy with the landing. He tried to lift off again, but the plane veered into the snow bank, cutting a two-foot swath through the snow before flipping and coming to rest, Sanders said.

Beyond that, the cause of the crash is not yet known, according to Sanders.

"There was a light tail wind at the time of only five knots. That’s hardly a breeze," Sanders said.

Mott could not be reached for comment.

The plane sustained major damages.

Fuel leakage from the wings caused some concern and airport firefighters, armed with hoses, stood over the wreckage as Sun Valley Aviation officials hoisted the plane off the runway with a crane.

The airport remained closed for just under two hours.

Mott refused treatment from paramedics and was "very calm and cool," according to Hailey Fire Chief Mike Chapman.

"There were no injuries and the pilot walked away," said airport chief of operations Pete Kramer, as he rushed to the accident scene Thursday. "Now, we’ve just got an airport that’s closed that we have to get opened."

It was the second accident involving a Cessna in two weeks at Friedman Memorial Airport.

"There were no factors related to the airport or anything that we can do different," airport manger Rick Baird said. "It’s just unlucky."

 

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