Ultralight plane crashes

    BONNERS FERRY — An engine powered parachute piloted by a Bonner County man crashed in Boundary County about 11:04  a.m. Tuesday.

Emergency crews responded and found the conscious pilot, Hoyt Dale Patton, Jr., 56,  lying in a puddle of gasoline, with numerous broken bones.

Witnesses Mike and Dorreen Rocha said they saw the man fall some 100 feet from the sky at the old Riley Creek Mill on Riverside Drive in Bonners Ferry, said Bonners Ferry Police Chief Rick Alonzo.

Eyewitnesses told police that the parachute appeared to spin twice which tangled the shroud lines to the parachute, it twisted and collapsed causing the craft to plummet to the ground.

Boundary County Sheriff investigator Dave McClelland said the man was dazed and confused but awake.

This flying machine, referred to as a PPC, consists of a frame which supports the pilot, an engine, a propeller and a nylon parachute which is intended to give the machine lift. The parachute is also a back up if something were to happen to the engine to allow the pilot to glide gently to the ground. 

Alonzo said it is unknown at this point what caused the malfunction. 

Patton was taken to Boundary Community Hospital and then transferred to Sacred Heart Medical center by Medstar Air.

The crash was reported to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board  for their review.