Pilot Hurt When Plane Flips

A pilot attempting an emergency landing outside the airfield here was injured when his experimental plane flipped.

Murray Sauraz, a part-time Priest River resident, was flying his experimental Baby Hornet plane when he was forced to land in a field alongside Highway 57, just a mile north of Highway 2 in Priest River. The accident occurred at about 5 p.m.

Sauraz hit a ditch while landing, flipping the plane onto its top. He was taken to a nearby hospital and diagnosed with a compressed vertebra.

Sauraz had more than 200 flying hours with the plane, according to a friend.