This is not a good way for this pilot to begin the first day of the new year. But then again, if we get this disaster out of the way, then the rest of the year should be great, because he has the bad part over, first day.
I was exploring the town of Jay Em, Wyoming, with a friend. As we were driving around and taking pictures, a small bush plane kept crossing over the town at a very low altitude. From the sounds of this engine and the angle of the airplane as he passed, I figured he was looking for a place to land.
Bush planes like this one, with big tires, don’t need runways. They just need enough of an open stretch, and not a lot of it.
We crossed a small bridge that would take us to the back side of town, and my friend let out a gasp. There was the plane, in the field behind the town, upside down. A pickup was parked next to it. Two men were right by it.
Was the pilot okay? I stepped on the gas and turned down a two rut road to the wreck.
The pilot greeted me. He was fine. His friend had been waiting for him on the ground for a pickup and a ride. The field looked like a good place to land, until he hit something while rolling to a stop and flipped it over.
The wings were crinkled. The wing struts were bent. The prop and nose cone were twisted and crushed. The windshield was shattered. His friend was on his hands and knees, rooting around inside the cockpit, looking for the pilot’s cellphone, which he found.
The discussion then turned to how the heck he was going to get this broken flying machine out of here.
It’s heartbreaking to see a machine like this on its back and broken. But good to see that the pilot was fine and in good spirits.
