Both Found Alive, Injured Next Morning

An Aviat Husky A-1B (type shown below) participating in a weekend mountain safety flying clinic in the Elkhorn Mountains in Montana was reported missing Sunday afternoon after disappearing from radar.

The ensuing search and rescue attempt for the two pilots saw the scramble of at least four helicopters and about eight fixed-wing aircraft in the air and ground crews comprised of sheriff's department personnel and other volunteers from Lewis and Clark, Broadwater and Jefferson counties as well as Forest Service personnel and volunteers, according to Alke and Broadwater County Sheriff Brenda Ludwig.

Both pilots were found alive Monday morning near the crash site.

According to Debbie Alke, administrator for the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division, a Silver State helicopter from Butte located the crash site around 10 a.m. Monday. Searchers reported seeing a flash of light that helped them locate the plane, Alke told the Helena Independent Record.

Pilot Jon C. Kantorowicz, of Great Falls, and owner of the Husky, was airlifted by helicopters from Malmstrom Air Force Base to the Helena airport then transported to St. Peter's Hospital where he was listed in stable condition by Monday afternoon, according to a hospital spokesperson.

Flight instructor Sparky Jim Imeson, from Jackson, WY was located a little more than a mile from the crash site by a Montana National Guard helicopter with lacerations on his face and possible spinal injuries, said Major Garth Scott of the Montana Air National Guard.

Imeson (shown below, at right), author of several books on mountain flying, apparently began walking from the crash site to get help Sunday night, according to reports from friends at the Townsend City-County Airport. His condition was not known as of late Monday according to Mike Ferguson, former administrator for the Montana Aeronautics Division and a friend of Imeson.

The plane had burned, said Alke, but neither pilot was reported to have burns.

The weekend mountain flying safety clinic, Montana Mountain Flying Rendezvous, is sponsored by the Montana Pilots Association.

FMI: www.mdt.mt.gov, www.montanapilots.org