High Voltage Powered ‘Chute

Well, at least he had his seatbelt on. Powered parachute pilot Don Beatty, of Great Falls, Mt., dangled upside down from the seat of his machine for almost three hours on Saturday after the chute got tangled in a 230,000-volt power line near Great Falls. He was finally rescued by a crane after emergency crews scratched their heads for awhile on how best to get him down without killing him. The pilot said pilot error was the cause of the mishap. “I’ve been flying around here for seven years,” Beatty said. “I just screwed up.” He said he was watching combines harvest a field below when he flew into the line. He was tired and cramped but otherwise unhurt and declined an ambulance ride.