Idaho men escape Custer County plane crash

Update: 1:20 p.m. The Custer County Sheriff’s Office now says the flight was not an instructed flight and that the co-pilot was not a trainee. Original Story: Two Idaho men walked away from a small plane crash near Mackay Saturday. The Custer County Sheriff’s Office said a pilot instructor Phillip Bates, 37, and trainee Ryan Jennings, 30, of Boise were flying a Cessna C 182 P from Nampa. At 3:24 p.m. the men reported they were making a second pass up a canyon toward Shelly Mountain when the plane hit a strong down-draft of air, forcing the plane into the snow and trees. There was no fire or explosion and both men escaped with minor cuts and bruises. Sheriff Stuart Lumpkin confirmed the crash site at the base of Shelly Mountain, about 7 1/2 miles southwest of Mackay.
A team of five rescuers reached the wreckage by on snowmobiles at 6:15 p.m. and had them out of the area an hour later.