A 70-year-old man whose plane crashed into trees near Berwick yesterday walked away with barely a scratch.
The Mahone Bay man, who has about 45 years of flying experience, ran into trouble shortly after taking off from a nearby farm used as an airstrip. It was the first voyage for the light single-engine plane.
When the plane reached about 500 feet the engine quit, forcing the pilot to land, Kings RCMP spokesman Const. Les Kakonyi said.
“He attempted to land the plane, however lost control just short of the runway, which caused the plane to crash into a stand of trees,” Kakonyi said. “It’s currently still in the trees, but he was able to get out of the plane on his own steam.”
Police say the pilot, who was the sole occupant, has “minimal injuries” and was treated at the scene by paramedics, but didn’t have to be transported to hospital.
“Obviously his experience resulted in him not receiving serious injury,” Kakonyi said. “He missed the runway, but landed in such a way that it was minimal damage to himself and to the plane.”
Police say it’s not known what caused the engine to cut out.
Kakonyi said police notified the Transportation Safety Board has also been notified about the crash and also reported fuel leakage, which was mostly cleaned up by the local fire department, to the Environment Department.
