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GLENWOOD, Sevier County — A glider pilot participating in a national competition and a passenger walked away with minor injuries after they bailed from the craft Thursday.
The pilot went into a tailspin while they were flying 14,000 feet in the air before both he and passenger bailed out of the craft, authorities said.
“It’s a miracle to us that they’re both alive,” Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis said. “It’s pretty cool that they were all OK.”
Emergency crews were alerted of an Arcus Glider crash southeast of Richfield between Glenwood and Annabella at about 6:30 p.m., according to Curtis. He said a glider passenger, identified as Spence Chanthavane, 20, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, called in that he had bailed from the craft after it began to go down three hours earlier.
The craft was flying as a part of a national competition hosted by the Soaring Society of America and the pilot was flying through GPS checkpoints before the crash, Curtis said.
Chanthavane told authorities the pilot, identified as Dave Nadler, 61, of Acton, Massachusetts, alerted him about a problem with the craft while it was 14,000 feet in the air about 3:30 p.m. The craft went into a spin before it plummeted to the ground shortly after, according to Curtis.
Both individuals bailed out of the craft and parachuted to the ground, though Chanthavane did not know where Nadler landed.
Neither Chanthavane or Nadler had a cellphone with them and no beacon went off to alert authorities, so Chanthavane made his way to a dirt road and flagged a motorist down to call for help three hours after the crash happened.
“(Chanthavane) had been searching and trying to get his way down the road, couldn’t find the pilot,” Curtis said. “He had lost his glasses when he ejected from the glider. He was able to flag somebody on a road that he finally got to and then called 911.”
Nadler was located shortly after 9 p.m. by a Department of Public Safety helicopter after crews used a debris field, or where some of the debris was located, to track where he might be. Without the beacon, the search for the glider was difficult, Curtis said. He added that authorities believe the glider crashed in a nearby canyon.
Federal Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
The event the pilot was participating is being held in Nephi. Michael Hendron, of the Utah Soaring Association, said pilots at the competition are required to wear parachutes.
He added experience and training are important for situations like what happened on Thursday.
"He's obviously a really experienced pilot, which I'm sure helps avoid panicking, staying calm under pressure I'm sure is critical," Hendron said.
Contributing: Lindsay Aerts, KSL Newsradio; Sean Moody, KSL TV
