A pilot of a small plane that crashed into the Colorado River near the Colorado and Utah border was helped to safety by at least two river rafters who came upon the scene, according to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.
Preliminary reports indicate the 59-year-old male pilot, who has not been identified at this time, is conscious and breathing but does have injuries, the sheriff’s office said. It was not immediately clear what injuries the pilot had.
The pilot was transported to a hospital via helicopter.
The rafters who helped rescue the pilot — a man and a woman — saw the plane flying and then when they floated around a bend, they witnessed the crash scene. The pilot flagged the rafters down, and the rafters took the injured pilot aboard their raft and took him to the nearest boat ramp.
Deputies are in the process of going upriver to the crash site to investigate the scene along with the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane is in a popular rafting stretch between Loma Boat Ramp near Fruita and Westwater in Utah, according to Mesa County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Megan Terlecky.
Officials believe the plane is a Kitfox aircraft partially submerged in the water.
Mesa County deputies, Mesa County Search and Rescue and Lower Valley Fire Protection District are all responding to the crash.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.