FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" author Richard Bach was in serious condition Saturday, a day after his plane crashed in Washington state, officials said.
Bach, 76, was in critical condition when first brought to Harborview Medical Center after the Friday crash, WCPQ-TV reported. His condition was upgraded to serious Saturday afternoon, the Tacoma TV station said.
The San Juan Islander reported Bach was attempting to land his 2008 Easton Gilbert Searey plane on a grass airstrip on San Juan Island when its landing gear hit power lines, causing it to land upside down about 2 miles west of Friday Harbor.
Nearby campers cut Bach free from his harness.
"There were live electric cables on the road," Lucy Williams told the newspaper. "He was dangling. Just hanging forward from his shoulders. He was bleeding. He had this dent in his head. We used the tiny knife on my keychain to cut him loose. We got a jacket from some random person and put it on his head [to stop the bleeding]."
