Pilot survives Columbia River crash-landing near Troutdale

Published: Jun 24, 2024 Duration: 00:02:20 Category: News & Politics
Tags : news ] [ local Oregon Portland plane crash troutdale columbia river plane in river small plane ditching pilot survives
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Off a port of Portland rescue boat. And onto this ramp was by far the easiest leg of a harrowing trip for Rick Betcher one that had him swimming in the Columbia after landing his plane in the river. Like I want to go home and go to bed and forget about it all. But first, Rick graciously walked, swam and flew us through what happened Monday afternoon. It was meant to be a quick trip from the Troutdale Airport to Pearson Field in Vancouver and back Rick was flying his Mooney 231 similar to this plane, but just east of the Troutdale Airport. A first in Rick's 25 years as a pilot and um, I didn't have enough altitude to make it to the runway. So I had to plan my landing because when your engine quits, you have to land audio from air traffic control, captured the moment power going to have to find a place to land if there's some blue hangars able to make it to the airport. Rick says given all the high voltage lines, the river seemed to be his best bet. He nailed the landing in 6 ft of water I have no injuries. It's just, I don't know if it's a miracle or whether it's just just good piloting technique or I don't know what, but I did the right thing. Officials tell us the plane went down in this part of the Columbia River, right between Washougal and Troutdale. The wreckage is still in the water. As for the pilot, Rick, he swam to Gary Island. He's very fortunate. First responders say Rick's 100 yard swim, put him in a spot where rescue crews could easily reach him. There was a helicopter in the area that hovered over the top of him. So it gave us some bearings as to where he was at. And then after that, we just had to try and coordinate and triangulate to try and figure out exactly where he was and that he was ok. It's certainly not the trip Rick planned, but he stuck to his main objective, fly the airplane. That's what you have to do. So that's what I did. And I, you know, of course, things went through your mind, but you gotta, you gotta pay attention to business in Troutdale, Catherine cook KGW News.

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