First responders rescued a glider pilot Saturday in Craig County after the pilot crashed into trees close to the Blue Ridge Soaring Society glider club’s headquarters.

The Roanoke Fire-EMS Department’s heavy tactical rescue team got a call Saturday at 2:14 p.m., the agency said in a Facebook post Monday, to respond for mutual aid in the 1400 block of Glider Drive in New Castle.

The pilot was still inside the glider when the rescue team and responders from other jurisdictions arrived at 3:03 p.m., the agency said.

The pilot was stuck approximately 30 to 40 feet up, the Craig County New Castle Volunteer Fire Department said on Facebook.

In contact with the pilot via cellphone, a Craig-Botetourt Electric bucket truck was used to lower the uninjured pilot safely to the ground at 3:45 p.m.

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