Pilot spots hurt man in Black Rock

A Valley couple flying home from Oregon on Wednesday over the Black Rock Desert rescued an injured man, when they spotted him lying on the playa.

John Morgan said he was 50 feet above the desert in his Husky aircraft after landing on the playa for a break when he and his wife saw the shirtless man about 96 miles north of Reno.

Morgan said he thought the man was dead, though his wife, Jan, thought she saw his hand move.

While circling, they spotted a couple camping about a mile and a half away.

"We landed to see if they knew anything and they followed us back to the man," Morgan said. "When we got there, he could talk a little, but he was face down in the desert."

Morgan raised a passing airliner on the radio and the pilot contacted Reno with the coordinates.

"We got the wing of the aircraft over him and got a little bit of water into him," Morgan said.

CareFlight helicopter ambulance arrived 45 minutes later and took the man for treatment.

"We heard the chopper and when we looked in that direction, they had their landing lights on," he said. "It looked like something out of Vietnam."

The man appears to have jumped out of his car while driving on the playa.

Morgan, who was involved in the search for Steve Fossett last fall, said that if his flight had taken any other path, he would have missed the man entirely.

"If it would have been 100 yards either way, it is likely we would have missed him due to the smoke haze," he said. "It was lucky our ground track went right smack dab over him. My wife thinks it was in the hands of God.

"That desert kills people," he said. "It is so big. If you had no idea of where someone was, you would never find them."

Morgan, whose nickname is Bumber, said he's been flying since 1991.

"My dad was in the (Royal Air Force) for 30 years, so I think it's in my genes," said Morgan.

The couple has lived in the foothills for about five years.