BANCROFT, ID : Bancroft man seriously hurt in ultralight crash on Monday, 26th September 2016

Emergency units responded Monday afternoon to an ultralight crash near the Bancroft Municipal Airport.

Val Eddins, 31, of Bancroft, crashed from roughly 40 feet in the air into a stubble field several hundred yards from the airport runway, according to Bancroft Fire Chief Brett Crump.

“When I arrived, emergency responders were just loading him up onto a stretcher and getting him out of there,” Crump said. “He did have use of his hands, was holding his head up and was wiggling his feet before departure.”Adam Mabey, a Caribou County Sheriff’s Department deputy, responded to the accident and said Eddins was initially transported to Caribou Memorial Hospital.

However, because of the extent of his injuries he was later airlifted via emergency helicopter to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello.

Officials at PMC confirmed Monday at 5 p.m. that Eddins’ condition was stable.

According to Mabey, the cause of the accident is unknown, but he believes either Eddins lost control of the aircraft or the ultralight stalled midair.

Though this was Eddins’ first attempt at flying the ultralight, apparently it’s not his first ride in an emergency helicopter, according to Crump.

“It wasn’t fatal, but it was serious,” Crump said. “He’ll be alright. This ain’t the first time he’s been life-flighted out of something. He’s an adrenaline junkie.”

An ultralight is a type of powered hang glider in which flight is controlled by shifting weight in the desired direction. These aircraft have a fabric flex-wing attached to a suspended tricycle fuselage-pod driven by a pusher propeller.


The Federal Aviation Administration does not require a pilot’s license to operate an ultralight, but specifies flights must be for sport and recreation and during daylight hours only.

Mabey said emergency fire responders were called to the scene because the aircraft’s 5-gallon fuselage ruptured and could have set the field ablaze had it ignited.

“We can confirm it was not weather-related,” Mabey said. “My guess is that it was probably error by the pilot.”

Bancroft has a population of about 375 people and is located northeast of Lava Hot Springs. The airport has a gravel runway primarily used by local crop dusters and the occasional private plane.

“It basically comes down to an individual taking off from the Bancroft airport,” Mabey said. “He was flying his ultralight for the first time, lost control of it, crashed into a field and we transported him for injuries.”

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Bancroft man seriously hurt in ultralight crash