A Sixes man was injured in an ultralight aircraft accident near Cape Blanco on Saturday.

According to Curry County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Dennis Dinsmore, at about 3:29 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office began receiving multiple phone calls about an ultralight crashing into the cliff on the south side of Cape Blanco.

Personnel from the Sheriff’s Office, Port Orford Ambulance, Sixes River Fire Department and the Oregon State Police responded, and found the aircraft on a bluff about 100 to 150 feet from the bottom of the cliff, Sixes Fire Chief Wayne Moore said.

“He had landed upside down,” Moore said. “The occupant had managed to climb out of the ultralight. He was pretty banged up, but it didn’t look life threatening.”

Moore said the pilot, James Dougherty, 49, appeared to have ankle and shoulder injuries. Emergency personnel decided transporting Dougherty by ambulance over the steep, rugged and grassy terrain would be too dangerous, so they contacted the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Air Station in North Bend at about 3:51 p.m.

Dougherty was put on a stokes litter (a stretcher) and carried down to the beach, where the Coast Guard helicopter landed.

Moore said Dougherty had been conscious and alert through the whole ordeal.

“He conveyed to me the reason for the crash was a mechanical failure,” Moore said, adding that even though the ultralights are normally equipped with an emergency parachute, Dougherty had indicated that just before the crash, he was too low to deploy it.

Dougherty was flown by Coast Guard helicopter to Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay, where he was admitted. He was listed in fair condition this morning.