'I honestly believe my dad saved our lives'
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A local man is sharing his story after he and three others walked away from a single-engine plane crash in the Idaho wilderness.
And they had multiple video cameras capturing the whole thing from inside the plane.
The area is known as the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness and it almost lived up to its name for four men on June 30.
Leslie Gropp, 70, was taking his son, Tol, who lives in the Treasure Valley, and two friends on a hiking trip in the mountains.
They were taking off from Bruce Meadows Airport in Stanley, where they had landed earlier in the day.
"As we took off I knew that the take-off took a little longer than normal," Tol says. "But the runway was so long that once we got up in the air I wasn't concerned about it."
But the 1947 Stinson 108 4-seater was struggling to gain altitude.
"To be honest, I wasn't concerned until, I still felt even as I saw come into the trees, I thought my dad would pull us out of it and that we'd be okay."
Gropp believes warming temperatures caused an increase in density, making it more difficult for the plane to get adequate lift. He says the plane then hit an air pocket that pushed them down into the trees.
"It happened so fast, that I remember hitting the trees, and it sounded like rapid fire. Gunfire, it sounded like, but then we were all upside down, seatbelted in, and you can hear in the video my dad asking if everyone is alright."
Tol's father, Leslie, the pilot, suffered the worst of the injuries, including a broken jaw in three places and a broken cheekbone. But Tol believes his father's years of flying experience is why all four men are alive today.
"I honestly believe my dad saved our lives by the way he continued to fly the plane through the trees and making sure he didn't give up or try and pull out of it too hard."
Gropp hasn't been on any kind of plane since the accident, but hasn't ruled out future flights.
Although he's not sure his next destination will be the Idaho backcountry.
The entire video is posted below
**** WARNING **** Some of the content is graphic in nature
I'm not so sure about the pilot...very hot day, high altitude, 4 people in the plane...I wonder if the pilot even thought to check density altitude, or just took off because he had a rather long runway. There are no such thing as "air pockets", perhaps a downdraft, but I would be more likely to guess he just ran out of airspeed and the plane stalled and came down. The Stinson is a 4 seat, but is also limited to how much weight it can carry, and on a hot day they can be a killer. My guess is pure pilot error on the loading of the plane, and they survived with a lot of just plain pure luck.
What an absolutely horrendous ordeal these men went through! Indeed, the gods were certainly watching over them; that and the obvious skill the pilot wielded in this misadventure. Sincerely hope all involved recover from both physical and emotional trauma.  I could see the adrenalin and shock on the faces of those in the video.  How wonderful that they were all able to make it home to their loved ones (after watching this video, I'm headed home to hug mine now)!
The good lord was looking out for these men !! that being said i don't know if i'd ever get into a small aircraft again
eather.What a ride and a hell've video