07/23/2015
Single-engine airplane crashes at EAA AirVenture
OSHKOSH —Five people were taken to a hospital with injuries Wednesday morning, July 22nd in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, officials said, after a small plane crashed at EAA AirVenture — one of the world’s largest airshows.
A single-engine Piper Malibu crashed during approach at a regional airport which serves the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture airshow, said event spokesman Dick Knapinski. No details were known about the injured.
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Each year, the weeklong event draws about half a million people from around the world and approximately 10,000 aircraft.
Many attendees were arriving in anticipation of an afternoon flight demonstration by the Pentagon’s new ultra-advanced F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.
No one was hurt on the ground in the crash, Knapinski said, and federal officials were investigating, as they do in all aviation incidents.
The accident forced closure of Wittman Regional Airport for about two-and-a-half hours, Knapinski said
At around 8 a.m., a rising dark cloud of smoke signaled to people attending the aviation event that something was wrong, said George Widener, who witnessed the smoke.
“Everybody pretty much wanted to know what happened,” Widener said. “Smoke like that is never good at an airshow. I was hoping nobody got hurt, hoping everyone was OK.”
When the airport re-opened, a long line of small aircraft lined up on an airport taxiway, waiting to depart.
Accidents like this aren’t unheard of at big airshows, said Widener, 44, who said he’s attended the Oshkosh airshow every year since 2004.
Every year the Federal Aviation Administration dispatches special teams of air traffic controllers to Oshkosh for the airshow to ensure the safe handling of up to 1,000 separate operations daily, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Both the FAA and officials from the National Transportation Safety Board — who were already on site for the event — were investigating the crash. The plane’s FAA identification number — provided by Knapinski — said the plane was manufactured in 1984 and was registered to an owner in Stevensville, Michigan. The plane’s certificate was valid and was set to expire in 2016, according to FAA records.
General aviation pilots and enthusiasts from around the world make their way every year to Oshkosh to see the latest experimental aircraft and advanced aviation technology.
The airport closes each day to commercial and general aviation traffic during airshow performances, and the FAA establishes a restricted airspace around the area.
07/07/2015
An Air Force F-16 fighter jet and a small private plane collided in midair over Charleston, South Carolina, on Tuesday according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the fighter jet collided with a Cessna C150 around 11 a.m. ET. The collision occurred roughly 11 miles north of Charleston.
Defense officials told NBC News that reports indicate the military pilot safely ejected from the F-16 before it crashed.
The status of the Cessna or anyone aboard was not immediately known.
Michael Mule, a spokesman with the Berkeley County Sherriff’s Office, told NBC affiliate WCBD the plane crash happened at Lewis Field Plantation in Moncks Corner.
A witness told the station that he saw two planes collide in the air and saw a huge explosion, describing it as a “ball of fire in the air.”
The Air Force has flown F-16s since the 1970s, though very few active-duty squadrons still fly them.
07/06/2015
PIERCE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A pilot walked away without a scratch after police said his plane crashed near the 18th hole of the Legendary Run golf course Sunday evening.
The single-engine aircraft landed on the course just before 6 p.m., according to the Pierce Township police’s incident report. The pilot, Bradley Mottier, has just left Clermont County Airport and was heading to the Lunken airport when his plane, an Aviat Husky, lost power.
The report cited the incident as a “crash landing,” which struck trees and a fence and badly damaged the plane. But Mottier’s wife said the crash was really just a hard landing and would not prevent her husband from flying again.
Mottier’s wife said he has flown since college and never flies while low on gas.
The report said the plane lost power, but Mottier was able to restart the engine. He attempted to regain altitude, but he failed and attempted to land on the 18th fairway of the course, touched down on the course and continued until the plane came to rest in the backyard of 3507 Behymer Rd.
No one was hurt during the incident, and the fairway only suffered a few divots in the ground.
Neighbors of the course said the sight was one they won’t soon forget.
“This is something we’ll talk about for a long time,” said Kathy Coogan, who was talking with a friend when the plane touched down nearby. “It was like an event. We all sat out here and watched them.”
07/06/2015
A pilot was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital Sunday evening, after his plane went down in a corn field in Montgomery County.
The plane, which was dusting crops, clipped the tension line on a high voltage power line and crashed into a field, according to Sgt. Todd Walsh of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department.
The pilot was the only occupant of the single engine cessna aircraft, which crashed near Southmont High School in Crawfordsville.
“He was removed from the airplane. He was still alert and conscious and then he was taken by ambulance to the high school, where the helicopter landed and flew him to Indy,” Walsh said. “He had some leg injuries, but … he was alert and conscious.”
The accident occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. near County Road 600 South and U.S. 231, which is closed from W. 500 South.
Some residents briefly lost power due to the downed line, but power was restored that evening, according to Walsh.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been contacted. The plane will remain in the field until the FAA investigates the incident, Walsh said.
Emergency craws from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State Police, Crawfordsville Police, Crawfordsville Fire Department and New Market Fire Department responded to the crash.
07/04/2015
Pilot identified in deadly Salem plane crash
SALEM, Ore. – A pilot died when a plane crashed on takeoff Saturday morning at McNary Field in Salem.
The light plane crashed north of the runway on the Salem Municipal Airport grounds just before 8:30 a.m.
Witnesses said the plane burst into flames, and the flames were quickly extinguished.
Salem Fire officials told our reporters that the pilot was alone in the plane when it crashed. On Monday they identified the pilot as 60-year-old John Douglas Layton of Salem.
Investigators are working to find out what caused the plane to go down shortly after takeoff.
“I saw an airplane going north 50-75 feet off the ground, and he was going awful slow,” said John Davis, who was across the street at Walmart.
Officials are still investigating the crash.
07/03/2015
Pilot from Bloomingdale dead after plane crash in forest preserve near Bartlett
The DuPage County coroner arrives at the scene of a small-plane crash in Hawk Hollow DuPage Forest Preserve near Bartlett Friday afternoon; officials confirmed one person was killed.
Investigators respond to the scene of a small-plane crash in Hawk Hollow DuPage Forest Preserve near Bartlett; officials confirmed one person was killed.
A plane crashed Friday afternoon in the Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve near Bartlett, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. The pilot was killed, officials said.
The pilot of a Cessna 172 single-engine aircraft died after the plane crashed about 3:45 p.m. Friday in a field in the Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve near Bartlett.
The pilot was a Bloomingdale man who came from Schaumburg Regional Airport and did a quick landing and takeoff at DuPage Airport a source said, and had radioed in with “engine issues.”
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said the pilot had reported a “control” problem.
DuPage County Coroner Rich Jorgensen joined the NTSB and other investigators at the scene. The coroner did not release the name of the pilot pending notification of family members, DuPage County Forest Preserve spokeswoman Sue Olafson said.
The FAA was told only one person was on board, spokesman Tony Molinaro said.
Olafson said the coroner and Federal Aviation Administration investigators were to return to the scene Saturday morning.
ABC 7 Chicago reported the plane was registered to the Fox Flying Club, a nonprofit based at the DuPage Airport. Aerial pictures of the crash site showed the small plane in many pieces in the field, with a narrow line of charred ground behind it.
Skip Barchfeld, president of the Northwest Flyers based at Schaumburg Regional Airport, said the pilot also did only a quick landing and takeoff at the Schaumburg airport.
“All I can tell you is that that airplane did land at the Schaumburg airport earlier today but did not stop.
It just landed, taxied back and took right back off again,” Barchfeld said.
“That’s very common. People go to practice takeoffs and landings all the time,” Barchfeld said. “I was not there when the airplane actually landed and took off, but speaking to my line people and office people, they said it was nothing that appeared unusual. He just landed and taxied back and took off. On a nice day like today, a lot of pilots go out there to hone their skills on taking off and landing, going to different airports to get experience at different airports.”
Residents of Brandon and Newcastle lanes, the neighborhood near where the plane went down, reported hearing a loud noise late Friday afternoon. Others did not hear the crash or mistook it for early fireworks.
“It was really close, and all of a sudden, it just went straight down,” Amy Weber of Bartlett told ABC 7. “But we couldn’t see where it hit.”
Steve Colaizzi was outside weeding when he heard a big boom he attributed to pre-Independence Day fireworks but he now believes accompanied the crash.
“If (the pilot) put it down on purpose, he did a good job,” said Colaizzi, whose neighborhood is about 100 yards from the crash site.
Colaizzi said he estimates there are 40 to 50 houses on the street that backs up to the crash site, where he said he observed fire department personnel, forest preserve district officers, and local, county and state police walking near the crash site searching for debris.
Other residents reported seeing part of the wreckage only after hearing that there was a crash. A piece of the wing and a red blanket were visible about two blocks from the crash site, said Laura Nowack, a Newcastle Lane resident who saw neither smoke nor fire coming from the wreckage.
Diane K. Arnold of Hanover Park said via social media that she lives only five minutes away from the crash site. “I didn’t hear anything, just sirens,” she wrote.
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