A Utah pilot is suing a local environmental group for damages to his airplane after he hit a camouflaged portable toilet on a backcountry air strip placed “on or very near” the landing surface at Hidden Splendor airstrip. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Wayne Grant claims in his suit that he surveyed the clifftop runway to look for obstacles before flying away to set up for landing. He alleges that while he was momentarily out of the immediate area, someone allegedly affiliated with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance put two portapotties “painted in colors than nearly perfectly matched” the terrain in his way. He didn’t see the biffies until the last second and couldn’t swerve to avoid them without going over the cliff.
The airplane’s wing was damaged and had to be repaired on the mountain before it could be flown away. The suit says the environmental group, which was holding an event at the airstrip, should have known better than to put the toilets where an airplane might hit them. “Planes have wings, and require sufficient clear space around the airstrip for those wings in order to land safely,” the newspaper quoted the claim as saying.
