Pilot crashes plane, vlogs his rescue from Canadian wilderness

QUEBEC, Canada — When an American pilot crash-landed his small plane in a Canadian forest, he didn't just survive, he video blogged his survival tale.

Matt Lehtinen's plane is equipped with its own parachute. When his plane lost power, he pulled the chute and plummeted into the forest wilderness of Quebec.

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Once on the ground, Lehtinen began to record video updates of his survival and rescue.

"As I came into the treeline there was a loud bang. Out of the corner of my left eye, I notice a tree trunk fly through the fuselage. It actually came so close it ripped my shorts and scraped my leg," Lehtinen told CNN.

Once he got out of the wreckage, he realized that his rescue might not come too fast. Lehtinen lit a fire so rescuers would see the smoke and used his GPS to text an S.O.S.

Rescuers responded that they saw his smoke. Soon after, a C-130 flew overhead and dropped off a radio that Lehtinen scrambled through a swamp to retrieve. Royal Canadian Air Force searchers arrived and dropped down out of a chopper, set up a basket and hauled Lehtinen up to safety.

It was crazy, not for people scared of heights

Lehtinen dedicated his video to his rescuers saying, "You are my heroes and you saved my life. Sincerely, a grateful American."

CNN