Two rescued in Oregon day after plane crashes

CRESCENT, Ore. – Two men whose plane went down in a rugged part of the Cascade Range were rescued Tuesday after spending a cold night in the mountains with survival gear dropped by a helicopter.

The two were treated by rescuers who reached them on snowshoes shortly after dawn, said Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger. Then they were hoisted aboard a pair of Oregon Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopters and flown to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. Spokeswoman Minta Woll said both were in fair condition.

Justin Hall, 21, of Portland, the pilot of the single-engine Piper Cherokee, and Josh Stohr, 24, of Eugene, had taken off from Eugene on Monday, said Evinger.

He said they were going to fly by the Crescent Lake airport on the east slope of the Cascades but developed engine trouble flying at low altitude down a valley.

“That rough-running engine got worse, and they ended up crashing into some very thick timber and deep snow,” Evinger said. “The airplane was a complete loss, including a wing ripped off it. Rescuers commented that it was miraculous that anybody survived the accident.”

Both men suffered facial cuts, and Hall hurt his back and may have been unconscious for some time, Evinger said.

A passing civilian jet received a distress call after the crash, and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite began picking up transmissions from the plane’s emergency locator beacon Monday night, Evinger said.

But, he said, it was tough to pinpoint the location.

The initial satellite transmissions were hundreds of miles apart, but after they gradually consolidated a position, Evinger said, he called for a National Guard OH-58 Kiowa helicopter equipped with an infrared sensor to search in the dark. It found the crash site west of Odell Lake, where the men were signaling with flashlights.

The helicopter dropped a duffel bag loaded with blankets, food, water, first-aid gear, and flashlights.

Based on Global Positioning System coordinates relayed from the helicopter, 14 rescuers on snowmobiles made their way to the site and had to walk the last bit of rugged terrain on snowshoes, Evinger said.