Pilot Survived Overnight On A Sandbar Before Being Located

The pilot of a single-engine airplane survived an accident that left his airplane upside down in shallow water near the Mississippi River in Warren County, MS Saturday night.

Television Station WJTV reports that the pilot, identified as Howard Jennings of Utica, MS, had departed from a private airport near his home and headed towards the Mississippi River Saturday. His family last heard from him at about 1300 local time, when he sent a photo of the river of a sandbar near the river.

When he was overdue, his family contacted Hinds County officials at about 1900 local time.

A search was not mounted until Sunday morning due to darkness and weather. The search was conducted by Hinds County officials, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace, the Mississippi National Guard and Metro One.

The airplane was located upside down in shallow water. Jennings was near the airplane on the sandbar, apparently suffering from hypothermia and dehydration.

He was flown on the Metro One helicopter to River Region Hospital in Vicksburg MS.

(Image provided by the Warren County Sheriff's Office)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov