Valley County Sheriff’s officials say a 1947 single engine prop plane with four people inside crashed shortly after take off at the Bruce Meadows Airport around 3:30 p.m. Saturday when it hit some trees.
The pilot and owner of the plane, 70-year-old Les Gropp (not related to Forrest Gump
, was listed in serious condition Monday morning at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. Valley County Sheriff’s Lt. Daniel Smith said it appears Gropp suffered some serious face injuries in the crash but those did not appear to be life-threatening.
Gropp retired from the Idaho Army National Guard in 1995 after 31 years of service. Gropp was a chief warrant officer when he retired, officials said Monday.
Co-pilot Nathan Williams, 41, of Boise, was taken with Gropp to the hospital following the crash Saturday but he was treated and released that day. Two other people in the plane — 38-year-old Tol Gropp and 41-year-old Alexander Arhets — did not need to go to the hospital after the crash, according to reports.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to be in Valley County Monday to investigate what happened.
Witnesses say the plane, a single engine 1947 Stinson 108 with a manufacturing date of 1947, appeared to have a hard time getting off the ground during takeoff. The landing gear hit some trees near the end of the runway and the force of that impact flipped the plane over, which caused it to land on the top a short distance away, according to sheriff’s reports.
The crash occurred about 3:30 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Forest Service Roads 579 and 582 in the Bear Valley area.
An air ambulance got to the crash site first and took both Gropp and Williams to Boise for treatment, according to reports.
For Williams, it was his first time in a small aircraft, which was something he had always wanted to do.
"It was my turn to be in the front seat and I was really excited about that," Williams told ABCNews.com.
Williams and Arhets had both recently purchased small GoPro video cameras and were videotaping the flight.
When the plane got somewhere between 70 and 100 feet over the tree-line after takeoff, it wouldn't go any higher and began to seem as though it was being pushed down to the earth.
"You could feel it kind of waving down, waving down and the trees just coming up closer and closer to the wings," Arhets said, speaking by phone from Orlando, Fla., where he is celebrating his daughter's high school graduation.
"The pilot said, 'Brace for the trees,' so we turned and then all of a sudden he started hitting the trees, hitting the wings.
"The plane started turning and hit head on, running into the trees and then rolled over and landed on its nose and roof and skidded to a stop."
The video shows angles from two cameras and the front of the plane can be seen crashing into the trees, sending pieces of the tree exploding into the air.
Arhets said that, to him, the crash seemed to happen in slow motion and that he was much calmer that he could have imagined he would be in such a terrifying situation.
"You could see the debris and parts of the windshield and dirt and sticks flying into the cabin," he recalled. "We came to a rest and stopped and everyone was kind of moving their hands and feet and fingers and toes and all asking each other, 'Are you OK?' And everyone was OK."
"OK as far as alive, anyways," Arhets added.
Tol Gropp said that crashing into the trees sounded like "rapid gun fire" and that, for him, the crash happened quickly.
"The next thing I really remember is being on the ground upside down, hanging from our seatbelts," he told ABCNews.com.
All four men were able to exit the plane through the pilot's door and they assessed their injuries outside the plane.
Les Gropp, Tol Gropp's father, suffered the most serious injuries. The video shows Gropp on the ground with his head propped up on a tree branch with cuts and blood all over his face and arm. He appears to have a deep cut from his mouth across his cheek and towards his neck.
The men, all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gathered some foliage to perform blessings on Gropp and Williams, who seemed to have the most serious injuries.
Within 10 minutes, a couple that had been driving nearby came rushing into the woods, saying they had seen what happened. The couple gave the men the supplies they had and then left to get help.
Soon enough, four retired firefighters, a paramedic, EMTs, trucks from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and a Life Flight helicopter were all on scene. Les Gropp and Williams were both transported to the hospital via helicopter and Tol Gropp and Arhets rode to the hospital with EMTs.
Les Gropp had 13 metal plates installed throughout his face, but is doing well. Williams suffered a concussion and Arhets and Tol Gropp had minor cuts and bruises.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash and has the plane secured in a storage facility for further examination, the agency said in a preliminary report. The passengers believe the plane experienced a downdraft, a dangerous, vertical movement of air caused by the weather.
Arhets said the men are all amazed to be alive and grateful for all the help they received. He is at Disney World, fully aware of how close he came to missing the celebration.
"I'm ecstatic to be here," he said. "Life takes on a whole new meaning."
