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Fri, Sep 26, 2014

Pilot Survives In-Flight Prop Loss

Says Eagle Scout Training Help Him Through Post-Accident Ordeal

A 65-year-old pilot from the San Francisco Bay area found himself in one of those situations that no pilot wants to experience; the prop had come off his airplane.

Tim Cassel told television station KNTV that the prop separated from the airplane at about 13,000 feet over the Sierra Nevada mountains. He eventually put the Piper PA-28 down in a remote canyon in Sequoia National Park. He suffered broken ribs, a broken ankle, and facial fractures from the accident, but he was alive and able to get himself out of the aircraft.

Cassel said he put his Eagle Scout training to work to help him survive. As night fell and temperatures dropped, he wrapped himself in the airplane's cockpit cover to stay warm and activated an emergency locator beacon. He was found by park rangers about 18 hours after the plane went down.

Cassel has been flying about seven years, according to the report. When asked if he plans to fly again, his response was an enthusiastic "you bet."

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov

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