A high school history teacher survived more than two days dangling from a tree in his single-engine plane after it crashed during a cross-country trip.
Dennis Steinbock, 52, was rescued Wednesday after the Civil Air Patrol detected an emergency signal. He had been in the plane for about 50 hours, had serious injuries to both legs and was dehydrated when he was found in a densely wooded gully.
The cause of the crash was not known.
Steinbock, from Klamath Falls, Ore., was hospitalized in good condition Thursday in Memphis, Tenn., said Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Stringer. She declined to release further information citing patient privacy laws.
Steinbock’s son, Steven, said his father bought the plane in Alabama and was flying it home to Klamath Falls, Ore.
“The Civil Air Patrol saved that man’s life,” Lafayette County Sheriff Buddy East said Thursday. “They kept calling us ... we went out there and helped but they kept at it. That plane was in a place we couldn’t get to without their help.”
