Pilot uninjured in PR plane crash

PRIEST RIVER — A pilot making touch-and-go landings on a nearby airstrip crashed his plane shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday, according to a Facebook post by Bonner County EMS.

Bonner County EMS and West Pend Oreille Fire Department responded to the scene and advised a short time later that the pilot had made it safely out of the plane and “initial reports are the pilot is out walking around.”

A subsequent post indicated the individual, whose name was not released, was not injured or transported for medical care.

Kasey Nelson, a Priest River Elementary teacher was at the school when the crash happened and saw the event unfold from her classroom, according to her reply underneath the Bonner County EMS post advising of the crash.

“The pilot is okay,” Nelson said in a second post. “He was going to do touch and goes on the strip. But right after he took off the engine stalled out and his landing gear failed when he landed in the field.”