BILLINGS, Mont. — A student pilot whose plane crashed into a snowy mountainside survived a freezing night by wrapping himself in a tarp, then hiked a mile through waist-deep snow in shorts to meet rescuers, aviation and rescue officials said Wednesday.

The student, whose name was not released, crashed about 40 miles south of Billings on Tuesday night and was rescued about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. He was taken to a Billings hospital with hypothermia but did not appear to have any major injuries, said Jon Trapp, one of the pilot's rescuers.

"He ended up hiking quite a ways in his shorts and tennis shoes, in waist-high snow. He was very cold and cut up by the time we found a place to land and could hike into him," said Trapp, assistant coordinator of Carbon County Search and Rescue.

The small plane crashed into a forested slope on Big Pryor Mountain during a solo training flight from Billings to Pryor, Wyo.

The Rocky Mountain College student stayed with the 2006 Piper through the night. With overnight temperatures dropping close to zero, Trapp said, the student wrapped himself in an orange tarp to keep warm, and also was wearing a jacket and wool cap.

Rescuers on the ground had searched for the student through the night, but Trapp said the Federal Aviation Administration initially gave them coordinates that were about eight miles off.

The student used a cell phone to call his flight instructor about 9 a.m. to report he survived the crash with a dislocated shoulder and other minor injuries, said Mike Fergus, a spokesman for the FAA's Northwest Mountain Region in Seattle.

Though it was not immediately clear why a call had not been made earlier, cell phone service in the area is spotty.

The pilot started to hike out after he was spotted by rescue planes, around the time he reached the flight instructor.

Dan Hargrove, director of aviation for Rocky, could not be reached immediately for comment.

About 100 students are enrolled in Rocky's 10-year-old aviation program, which offers degrees in aeronautical science and aviation management. The Billings-based program has a fleet of eight Piper and Beechcraft planes.

Good reminder to dress to egress

That would be a fleet of seven now.

Wow, sounds like he was experienced enough to "poop" it into the trees fairly slowly. Glad he made it, I always like to hear stories of "successful" crashes.

Not to monday-morning quarterback too hard, but flying in MT in the winter while wearing shorts??

Anybody know why he crashed? Pilot error? Mechanical failure? Hopefully it won't discourage him from flying anymore.
Too bad though

JrCub,

Nope, as a teacher at a northern University, I can tell you that you are absolutely incorrect.

Girls DO NOT wear shorts in the winter here.

Guys do, though. All the time, especially "athletes". Duh.

I think there may be a message there somewhere......

MTV

Sheez,

He is a student who is also a pilot. Not a student pilot as previously reported. The yahoo story states he is a pvt pilot with an instrument rating and has 150 hours.

Typical news media...

Rocky Mtn College in Billings has a four year aviation degree program. This fellow was a student there.

MTV

mtv wrote:Rocky Mtn College in Billings has a four year aviation degree program. This fellow was a student there.

MTV

Still is. He is instrument rated also, working on the commercial. He was following V187 from BIL on his way to Powell, WY. Why you'd take V187 when V85 is actually closer to Powell and the terrain is lower is still a mystery. The MEA on V187 is 11,000, the ridge on the airway centerline is at about 8400. Our radar tracked him all the way to the scene of the crash at 7500. You do the math.
If you could hear the tape of our dealings with FSS during this incident you would be appalled. Unbelievably poor service. These people are literally clueless.

A further update. Enroute the pilot flew into a snow shower. After exiting shower he decided to turn to the right and go direct. The aircraft he was flying was a glass panel Archer. The terrain warning system gave him two warnings. He said he didn't believe them and kept on going.
Go to this site for further discussion but more importantly there's some pictures of the crash site. The plane is virtually impossible to see after two days.

http://www.supercub.org/phpbb2/viewtopi ... c&start=30

Someone on the supercub site made this comment and I thought I'd repost it here. Wow! No wonder they never found Fossett. It took me several minutes of looking at the pictures and reading the clues in the posts to see where the plane was. One lucky, albeit stupid, SOB.