4 in Plane Crash Rescued After Jet Picks Up Mayday
The pilot of a Pan Am jetliner relayed a distress signal that led to the rescue today of a family of four who were stranded by the crash-landing of their small plane in a remote mountain range.
The Pan American World Airways jet picked up the Mayday signal Monday and helped searchers locate the pilot, his parents and 2-year-old son, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Don McGurk said.
“We were awful dang lucky,” Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Reeves said. “For once we finally brought somebody off this range of mountains alive.”
A helicopter from Hill Air Force Base flew the pilot, James Stoneking, 31, of St. George, Utah, his parents and son to a St. George hospital about 10 hours after they had crashed.
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