A glider pilot who crashed in rough weather was found Tuesday on a remote mountain ridge more than 24 hours later and was taken to a hospital, authorities said.
“The Maryland State Police’s medevac helicopter has located him and is bringing him out,” State Police Sgt. J.A. Wyatt said. The injuries appeared to be non-life-threatening, Wyatt said.
Pilot Donald Kramer of Williamsport, Pa., had called his wife using his cell phone Monday to tell her he had crashed and was injured, but Kramer lost contact with rescue teams after a power outage knocked out several cell phone towers in Pendleton County.
Search teams zeroed in on the glider’s homing beacon, and found him around 10:30 a.m., Wyatt said.
The weather at the time of the crash was “blizzard-like conditions,” but Kramer is an experienced glider pilot, Wyatt said. “He must have just caught a bad tailwind,” he said.
A second glider accompanied Kramer, but that pilot was able to fly back to Pennsylvania, Wyatt said.