BILLINGS - A Rocky Mountain College student is out of the hospital. A spokeswoman for St. Vincent Healthcare said 18-year-old Andrew Scheffer was discharged Thursday afternoon after being treated for frostbite, a concussion and various cuts and bruises.

Scheffer was on a solo training flight from Billings to Powell when he crashed into the Pryor Mountains south of Billings Tuesday night. He hiked a mile in waist-deep snow to meet rescuers Wednesday. A Rocky spokesperson said Scheffer's family flew in from Washington State to be with him.

The Montana Aeronautics Division confirmed that a volunteer pilot from Bridger located the site where the plane went down. He planned to drive to the area and hike to the crash site to turn off the emergency transmitter Thursday morning. Exact coordinates are not known.

News of the crash and rescue of Rocky Mountain College aviation student Andrew Scheffer spread quickly through the ranks of the aviation program, as well as the rest of the campus. Nikolos Schatz, a freshman in the program, said he first heard Scheffer was missing early Wednesday morning.

"It was just kind of a shock, hearing someone that we all care about, that's one of us, has gone down," Schatz said. That shock was still sinking as Thursday, as Schatz reflected on his own experience.

"A few months ago, I was at pretty much the exact place he is in his training, and I've flown the same flight he was flying," Schatz said. "It puts stuff in perspective. I think even more so, there's people I know who are going to be at that place in a very short amount of time. That must be even more awakening."

Schatz said he felt that he had been very cautious during that flight, but now wondered if he was as cautious as he could have been. But he also warned against jumping to conclusions about the cause of the crash.

"Speculating is the worst thing people can do at this point," he said, asking the public to wait for federal investigators to look into the crash before casting any blame. He said that from an aviator's standpoint, "a million things" could have caused the crash. He also praised the Rocky program for its emphasis on safety, and the individual flight instructors for their experience.

Schatz didn't expect the crash to dissuade his classmates from flying, or to stop him from taking to the skies. "There's a certain risk you take in flying, but it almost seems like aviation students have an obsession with it. We can't let it go. It's a passion in your heart. You just feel so free up in the sky, and you just can't give it up. And it's worth it. It's worth it to take the risk."

He also expressed hope that Scheffer would be back in class, and in the air, soon. "I just want Andrew to know that we all really care about him, that he's a great guy and he's a great pilot, and I hope that I still see him around. I hope he chooses to stay here to fly. I know we all care about him."