Former Jackson resident and expert mountain pilot Sparky Imeson died in a plane crash Tuesday near Helena, Mont.

Imeson, a Helena resident, was born and raised in Jackson Hole and logged more than 20,000 hours flying airplanes. He and his parents founded Imeson Aviation Inc. in 1968 at Jackson Hole Airport. Imeson wrote 19 books on flying, including the “Mountain Flying Bible” and “Traildragger Tactics,” and won numerous awards as a flight instructor. Imeson also wrote the “Jackson Hole Bachelor’s Cookbook.”

According to reports, Imeson took off from Bozeman, Mont., en route to Helena Regional Airport and disappeared around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. A helicopter crew found Imeson’s Cessna 180 about two miles southwest of the Canyon Ferry, Mont., airstrip at 9:45 a.m. Thursday. Rescue personnel with the Montana Department of Transportation, the Montana Highway Patrol and the U.S. Air Force aided in the search.

“It is difficult to find the right words to convey the sense of loss the Montana aeronautics community will experience,” said Debbie Alke, Montana Department of Transportation aeronautics division administrator. “Sparky Imeson was a colleague and a friend to so many. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and our gratitude to all who helped us find him.”

The crash follows an unusual incident Sunday during which Imeson took off from Helena and filed a flight plan that would have taken him to 22,000 feet, well above the 14,000-foot legal limit for a nonpressurized aircraft without supplemental oxygen.

According to several reports, Imeson likely lost consciousness on Sunday’s flight. The Web site flightaware.com plots the seemingly random route taken by Imeson’s aircraft, identification number N2698Y, on a trip from Helena to Billings Logan International Airport, where he landed four hours and 22 minutes later. 

Brent Blue, a Jackson Hole pilot and medical doctor, said Imeson may have suffered from hypoxia, a condition that occurs when the body is deprived of oxygen.

“The flight path is pretty bizarre,” Blue said. “He apparently was coaxed down by air traffic control. He apparently did not remember the last hour of the flight.”

“During the flight on Sunday, if he was truly hypoxic, that could have also stimulated another medical issue [that contributed to the crash Tuesday],” Blue said.

Blue called Imeson’s death a “tragic loss to the aviation community.”

“He really was one of the experts; his level of knowledge over the years [was substantial],” he said.

Jeff Brown, president of Jackson Hole Aviation, said Imeson was a known risk taker. “Knowing Sparky, he pushes weather all the time,” he said. “If you play with airplanes and weather long enough, sooner or later it’s going to get you.”

In June 2007, Imeson was an instructor on a plane that crashed in Montana’s Elkhorn Mountains. According to reports, the student on the flight flew too close to a mountainside and crashed into a heavily wooded area. With injuries that included four broken ribs, a broken back, a broken toe and a lacerated forehead, Imeson and the student walked through the woods for 18 hours before rescuers found them.