A pilot survived a crash with minor injuries in the Little Switzerland area recently.
The aircraft was a small glider that had been towed up into the air by another aircraft. Reportedly, when he had lost enough altitude to judge his glide as being over, the pilot attempted to aim at a small airstrip on Strawberry Ridge that overlooks McKinney Mine Road, but he missed the airstrip and came down in the woods just below the clearing.
Neighborhood resident Alex Glover did not witness the crash, but he was able to help rescue workers find the wreckage based on his knowledge of the airstrip and the surrounding woods.
“It looked like he came from the south,” Glover said.
The glider is small enough that finding the crash site in the thick rhododendrons is challenging, even when it is close by.
“You can see how busted up this thing (the glider) is,” Glover said.
Rescue workers found the pilot lying in the dead leaves next to his shattered cockpit canopy.
“He’s lucky he had a place to get out,” Glover said. “He was lying here when we got here.”
Glover said the pilot complained of back pain, so he was transported to the hospital.
“He had lacerations to his ear,” Glover said. “He said he had a sore back.”
The glider ended up upside down, with both of its wings broke by trees — one wing was nearly severed entirely.
“There was class all over there from where he hit trees and broke his canopy,” Glover said. “He’s lucky to be alive.”