Wrecked airplane retrieved by chopper

The Daily Inter Lake

An airplane that crash landed in the Bob Marshall Wilderness July 24 has been hauled out by helicopter, Spotted Bear District Ranger Deb Mucklow said.

After its engine stalled at 8,000 feet, the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver landed without serious damage on a gravel bar along the South Fork Flathead River about 2 1/2 miles southeast of Big Salmon Lake.

The pilot, Steve Mohns of Mount Vernon, Wash., and his two passengers were unhurt.

The passengers were flown out by ALERT helicopter that evening, and Mohns got out of the wilderness with the help of an outfitter because of wilderness rules that restrict the use of aircraft in non-emergency situations.

Those same rules applied to extracting the airplane.

Mucklow said she discussed options for removing the plane with Mohns and his insurance company, and agreed to have it removed by helicopter. Contractors used outfitter stock to travel into the wilderness and prepare the plane for removal.

"They took the wings off," she said. "It is a very heavy airplane."

On Monday, a contracted heavy helicopter sling-loaded the plane's fuselage out with one trip and hauled the wings out on a second trip. The plane was loaded on a boom truck at the Spotted Bear Airstrip, which is outside the wilderness, and hauled to Missoula on Tuesday.

"There was no fuel spill," Mucklow said. "Everything was handled very professionally."