News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters resident Lennie Christensen limped away from the crash of his ultralite experimental aircraft at the edge of Pine Meadow Ranch on Tuesday morning, June 15.
Deputy Todd Williver of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office witnessed the crash, along with several construction workers.
According to a sheriff's office report, "Christensen was flying low over the pasture land... then turned east and attempted to climb above a row of ponderosa pine trees but didn't have enough altitude to clear the tops of the trees."
Christensen said he lost power due to mechanical failure of the engine. He said he could not set the aircraft down in the meadow for fear of hitting workmen laying pipe for the new PMR development.
Gilbert Staender was at Nellie Zook's house near-by when the crash occurred.
"I heard a sound like a chainsaw, about two seconds of that, then a sound like a tree falling, a crash," he said.
A Sisters fire crew responded, along with a Central Electric Co-op crew, since the plane was perched above power lines.
Christensen had to wait for a Redmond fire ladder truck to respond before he could be rescued.
According to sheriff's office reports, the rescue took about an hour.
Christensen said he thought he had a broken ankle.
The $8,000 ultralite aircraft fared less well.
"This thing will never fly again," Christensen said, rocking the smashed wooden propeller as the plane was hauled away from the scene.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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