WILSONVILLE, Ore. (AP) — A Clackamas County sheriff’s spokesman says a floatplane pilot trying to land on the Willamette River flipped the aircraft upside down but was able to escape from the cockpit and use the plane’s pontoon as a flotation device.
Detective Jim Strovink says a citizen’s 911 call Wednesday afternoon described seeing a man floating downriver in Wilsonville, Ore.
Rescue crews responded. An ambulance driver was able to direct a nearby boater to rescue the pilot.
Strovink says the 66-year-old Tualatin man suffered only minor scratches. He is reportedly an experienced pilot who feels very bad because he crashed the plane of a friend who is currently out of state. The sheriff’s office did not identify him.
