The pilot walked away (after being helped to the ground) but left authorities in western Idaho to figure out how to retrieve his airplane from the top of a 60-foot fir tree. John Gregory took off last week from McCall, Idaho, and lost power in his Super Cub. He headed for a clearing but a treetop snagged a strut and held tight. Fortunately for Gregory, who was not hurt in the abbreviated landing, the McCall Fire Department has a member uniquely qualified to handle such a call.
Firefighter Randy Acker owns a tree removal company and went to work. According to local media he first secured the airplane to the tree and then cut Gregory out of the cockpit and clipped him to a safety line for his climb down the tree. Although a wheel and a piece of prop detached from the Cub, the rest of it remained intact but was heavily damaged.
