UPDATED: NOV 9, 9:13 PM
BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI) — Police and emergency responders rushed to the scene of a crash, which appears to be a single-engine plane into the Snake River near the Porterville Road bridge in Blackfoot.
Witnesses at the scene reported seeing the plane partially submerged in the water below the bridge, and first responders dispatched boats into the water. Police are no longer on the scene while the plane remains in the water awaiting retrieval.
Authorities have not yet released any information regarding the aircraft’s registration, flight number, or the condition of the pilot at this time. Local News 8 has reached out to the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office and police dispatch and is awaiting a response.
Below is a press release from the Bingham County Sheriff’s office released at 8:00 PM:
“At 6:05 PM our Emergency Communications Center received a call in regards to a plane crash in the Snake River in the area of the Porterville Bridge. Initial information received indicated that the pilot, and sole occupant, had made contact at a residence nearby to ask for help and had suffered non life-threatening injuries.
Blackfoot Police, and Bingham Patrol and Marine units, and Blackfoot Fire/EMS all responded. Per Policy, the FAA was contacted and preliminary information was relayed to them. For safety concerns and time to properly address the logistics of retrieving the small aircraft, it will remain on the water where it is currently secure and clearly visible to reduce the likelihood of it becoming a hazard.
Porterville Bridge was closed for approximately 45 minutes to safely gain access to survey the scene. There is no reported damage to the bridge itself. Lanes on the bridge are now open. We do anticipate a closure tomorrow while the plane is removed with equipment on the bridge but we do not currently have a timeline to provide as much is TBD for business hours for those performing the work. We will do our best to provide an update on when that work is going to occur and when lanes will be affected.
We are grateful this wasn’t a fatality and thank the great citizens that took the pilot in and got help on the way. We aren’t able to release the name of the pilot, or any further information, until the FAA is complete with their findings.
We do hope not to saturate the 911 lines tomorrow with reports of the plane in the water, so we would appreciate some help in getting word out to all the public to mitigate those calls.
As always, thank you to our amazing public! 
“
ORIGINAL:
BLACKFOOT, Idaho (KIFI) — Police and emergency responders rushed to the scene of a crash, which appears to be a single-engine plane into the Snake River near the Porterville Road bridge in Blackfoot.
Witnesses at the scene reported seeing the plane partially submerged in the water below the bridge, and first responders dispatched boats into the water. Police are no longer on the scene while the plane remains in the water awaiting retrieval.
Authorities have not yet released any information regarding the aircraft’s registration, flight number, or the condition of the pilot at this time. Local News 8 has reached out to the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office and police dispatch and is awaiting a response.
This is a developing story. Local News 8 will provide additional details as they become available.
