Reports of a small airplane landing in the Palisades Reservoir resulted in the response of multiple agencies near Alpine on Monday morning. According to information provided by the Alpine Fire Department the pilot of the plane was alone and seemingly unhurt after touching down. 

The AFD had to quickly navigate several items during the response some of which are inherent to the location of Alpine and the border of Idaho and Wyoming as well as multiple law enforcement agencies. 

“It’s a challenge because when you call 911 in Alpine, it goes to Bonneville County and then they call back to Lincoln County so it can get kind of confusing,” replied AFD Fire Chief Mike Vogt. “Once [someone] leaves the runway the plane is in Idaho so they have to be notified because the Bonneville Sheriff’s will deploy their boat.”

In this case, the effort was also assisted by some individuals who were out recreating in the area. 

“We went to the end of the runway and saw the plane but couldn’t get to it,” Vogt continued. “So we had to backtrack to the rugby field and then drive as far as we could. We had one guy with a side by side and another woman with a Gator who were helping out. So we were able to put our gear in a raft which we are able to inflate and deploy in about 30-seconds and there was a boat out there as well that made contact with the plane and the pilot was able to get on their boat. We paddled the raft out and transferred the pilot into the ambulance. He seemed unhurt but went to go get checked out.”

The pilot was transferred to Star Valley Health for further examination.  The incident is expected to be investigated by the Federal Avionics Administration (FAA).

An Ongoing Challenge 

The plane crash is the latest in what has seemingly become a common occurrence for the Alpine community. It is also nearly the anniversary of a crash last July that claimed the life of the pilot.

One year ago on July 4, 2024, 53-year old Edan Shalev of Los Angeles, California died in a crash in the area while participating in an air show during the Alpine Independence Day holiday. 

RELATED: PALISADES PLANE CRASH CLAIMS THE LIFE OF CALIFORNIA PILOT –

The area is an incredible challenge for first responders who often deal with heavy tourist traffic and the increased use of recreational areas intermixed with the natural terrain of mountains, lakes, ponds, rivers and fires.

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In the last six weeks AFD and the Star Valley Search and Rescue have been part of multiple call-outs including the death of a Rigby woman who fell into the Snake River during a family function and a submerged car in the river on Father’s Day.

Vogt commented that his department also responded to a pair of fires near Palisades over the weekend. Bridger-Teton Forest officials raised the fire danger level to ‘High’ last week and hot dry temperatures are expected to continue this week culminating with what promises to be a very busy weekend for the full length of the valley.

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“We would just ask that especially during this holiday week, that people be extra careful,” he added. “There are people in boats and paddle boards and the massive number of people along with the dry conditions and the wind can just make for a bad situation when it comes to using fires. Please just be extra cautious.”