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Pilot Tony Radelat, far right, thanks Collier County emergency responders who rescued him in March during a special gathering at the Collier County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center on Thursday. Radelat was on his way back to Immokalee Regional Airport from Fort Myers Beach when he encountered strong turbulence and crashed his ultralight plane shortly before 10 a.m. on March 16. Radelat, who was injured in the crash, called 911 from his cell phone but was unable to tell an emergency dispatcher his location. After nearly two hours of searching, rescuers found him upside down in his plane in a tree about 20 feet above the ground near Lake Trafford in Immokalee. “You’re the reason I’m here,” Radelat told the 19 men and women representing the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Collier County EMS, Immokalee Fire Department, and Big Corkscrew Fire Department. Photo by Cpl. Efrain Hernandez/CCCSO
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