July 5, 2009
- Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Blackfoot - Idaho
Local pilot describes emergency muddy landing
By Jennifer McGraw
IDAHO FALLS - For three days Errol Spaulding and his friends tried everything they could to get his plane out of the mud.
"We got down and set the wheels down we realized it was mud, but it was too late we couldn't get the plane out," says Spaulding. This homemade Rans S-7 took a nose dive in the middle of Sevier Lake in Utah, and left Errol and his friend stranded for hours. "I told my buddy there, I said 'Well we've really done it this time,' and he said 'What do you mean we," he says. "We knew what he was in for, so that's why we all went down and helped him get it out," says Bob Melendez, neighbor and friend. The plane was stuck two and a half miles from dry land. It wasn't going to be easy getting it out. After several failed attempts... "We decided to hook it up to this to pull it back," says Tory Jones, who saved the plane. and with Tory's tractor and some homemade sleds, it pulled through. "We got it back home and here he is with a nice shiny airplane again," says Melendez. "One of my friends was talking to my wife and said it was a good thing I had a guardian angel with me all the time and my wife said she thought my guardian angel was about pooped," says Spaulding. But after it was all done and said, they would do it again. "Errol's quite a capable and skilled pilot, I love flying with him for years and I expect to continue," says the passenger Dale Cresap. "I'm glad he invited me for the adventure because it was quite a bit of fun," says Jones. and flying for Errol? "That's what I live for in a way," says Spaulding. |
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