Rescuers Surprised to Find Plane Survivor

[Sarka]

Rescuers Surprised to Find Plane Survivor
Sunday, February 20, 2005 8:00 PM EST
The Associated Press

Rescuers trudged through waist-deep snow to the site of a plane crash in a Colorado canyon, expecting to find bodies or seriously injured passengers. Instead, they found the pilot, sitting outside a snow shelter he had built and named "Motel 6."

Scott Thurner, 57, was the only person aboard the Cessna when it crashed Wednesday. He survived the accident with only scrapes and bruises.

Thurner then dug a shelter in a snow bank and used a door from the twisted wreckage of his plane for a roof. He started a fire with papers from his briefcase and donned all the ski clothes in his suitcase.

Rescuers who surveyed the wrecked aircraft were amazed to find Thurner alive.

"It looked just like if you put a can on the ground and stomped the thing. I can't even describe the carnage of that plane," said Troy Wallace, a member of the search-and-rescue team.

The team located Thurner by following signals from the plane's emergency beacon. Thurner pulled the device from the plane and fashioned a makeshift antenna. A military satellite picked up the signals before Thurner shut it down to conserve batteries.

The Montrose County sheriff launched a search that culminated in Thurner's rescue Thursday. He had been flying from Laughlin, Nev., to Paonia, Colo., to visit a son.

I can see a new ad for Motel 6 now...

 

[88_MALIBU]

Wow! That is a pretty cool story, I wonder why he went down.

 

[wingnutt]

Wow! That is a pretty cool story, I wonder why he went down.

...cause he lost lift, and gravity took over

 

[RockyMnt1]

Not the First one

According to the Denver Post, this is the second crash that this guy has had. Several years ago he put a plane down on the eastern plains just east of Denver. There were fatalities in that incident.

He must be:

1) a very unlucky pilot or
2) a very good pilot or
3) a very lucky pilot or
4) a very bad pilot

Not sure which...I wonder what his insurance premiums are like...if he has any insurance.

I read that he also enlarged his Motel 6 snowcave and renamed it Holiday Inn.