'Just go by instinct:' Pilot recalls surviving Tooele County plane wreck, being rescued


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VERNON, Tooele County — Although Jasen Thompson escaped a plane wreck with no major injuries, he is under no illusions about just how close his brush with death was when his aircraft went down Tuesday on a remote mountain in Tooele County.

"Just enough trees caught the airplane that it stopped the plane on top of the mountain," Thompson said. "If I would have been 6 feet lower, I would have went (into) the side of the mountain — or 6 feet higher, I would have just caused enough damage to the plane where I would have went down the other side of the mountain and more than likely crashed and burned."

The 42-year-old contractor was flying home after a long day performing aerial work for the Bureau of Land Management when he realized his Air Tractor AT-802 didn't have enough altitude to clear the peak of Red Pine Mountain. But after quickly assessing his other options, he said, he had no choice but to crash land just a few feet below the peak.

"I tried to turn left, but there was a mountain to the left, and there was a mountain to the right," Thompson said. "So I knew that I had to go … straightforward as much as I could. … You don't have that much time to actually think. You just go by instinct what you were taught and how you were taught."

Following impact, the aircraft finally came to a rest about 25 feet on the opposite side of the mountain, Thompson said.

But because of Thompson's remote location, his harrowing trip was far from over. He called another pilot in the area to report the wreck and ask for help, then started making his way down the mountain, despite painful injuries to his nose, finger and stomach.

"I had absolutely no survival kits, nothing," he said. "I had a coat and long johns and that was basically it, because I was not prepared for this."

Thompson also worried about being easy prey for wildlife in the area.

"I was thinking that was probably the worst scenario that I could be in at that moment," he said.

Meanwhile, the Utah National Guard was quickly in the area searching for Thompson, thanks to some Apache helicopters that were already training nearby. Those helicopter pilots used "night-vision technology" to locate Thompson about 6 p.m., said National Guard Lt. Col. Steven Fairbourn.

"When Apache crews located the downed pilot, he appeared to be walking into a remote, unpopulated area, away from recovery crews that were searching for him on the ground," Fairbourn said in a statement.

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Thompson said he had been walking for at least 90 minutes, getting down the mountain and moving a distance of 3 or 4 miles. He said he was attempting to find tractor crews who, along with him, were contractors for BLM working to reseed an area that had been damaged by a wildfire in the spring.

Thompson's phone had died, but he was able to turn it back on for about a minute and activate its flash flight. He said he was located moments afterward.

The Apache helicopter pilots used their search lights to direct Thompson in the direction of search and rescue ground crews, according to Fairbourn.

A recovery crew from Colorado plans to pick up the airplane from the mountainside, Thompson said. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

Thompson was taken to Vernon and then transported back to his temporary home in Nephi without needing a hospital visit. Following lots of rest, he planned to fly Wednesday night to Missouri, where he lives permanently.

"It could be way worse," Thompson said. "I am sore and stiff, but I'll be fine."

The pilot owns Thompson Flying Service, based in Charleston, Missouri. This isn't his first crash, he said: A wreck in 2009 broke his back and several ribs. Despite the multiple close calls, he plans to be back at work as soon as possible.

"There's always concerns, but this is just our job," Thompson said. "We do it as safely as we can. That is just the way we make a living."

Busy as it is, life will go on — and Thompson has God to thank for that, he said.

"Emotionally, I know that the good Lord was watching down," Thompson said. "Physically, I'm sore everywhere. ... The only way I made it out was through the good Lord."

Contributing: Brianna Bodily

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