Two injured in small plane crash in Killingly
January 21, 2006
KILLINGLY, Conn. --A student pilot and his instructor escaped with non-life threatening injuries when their plane crashed Saturday morning in a field in Killingly, police said.
The Cherokee Piper went down in field on North Road near the Rhode Island line about 10 a.m.
The property owner, who was the first on the scene, said both occupants were conscious and talking. One man had to be cut out of the craft.
Steven Surridge of Hampton was airlifted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Mass. and Paul Peltier of Griswold was transported by ambulance to Backus Hospital in Norwich, state police said. Their conditions were not released.
Police did not say which man was flying the plane.
The flight originated from the Windham Airport.
Good news, everyone survived with minor injuries. What makes this newsworthy? 1) The fact that an airplane crashed, or 2) The fact that the souls on board survived, or 3) The pilot(s) salvaged a possibly deadly situation and came out with the best possibly result.
If this story were about a car crash, it would NEVER make the news.
Two injured in small car crash in Reno
January 21, 2006
Reno, NV. --A driver and his passenger escaped with non-life threatening injuries when their economy car crashed Saturday morning in an irrigation ditch, police said.
The Honda Civic departed McCarran Blvd near the Rock Blvd about 10 a.m.
Farmer Ely Jenkins, who was the first on the scene, said both occupants were conscious and talking. One man had to be cut out of the econobox.
Klaus Dingleheimer of Vienna, Austria was driven 10 blocks by ambulance to Washoe Medical Center, and Dieter Poopenshausen also of Vienna was transported by a friend to an Immediate Care center, Reno police said. Their conditions were not released.
Police did not say which man was driving the car, but Dingleheimer was sitting in the left seat when authorities arrived, and is believed to have been driving. He is quoted as saying: "The engine began to lose powah, and I could not maintain turd gear, I haad to downshift. The caah lost speed, at which point I lost control of the vehicle and it went into the ditch."
The cross-town trip originated from Rainbow Market on Longely Dr.
BORING! I think the mystery that still shrouds aviation for the general public keeps stories like this attractive to the media, who perpetuate the fears of the public that an aircraft might drop out of the sky on their heads or that flying small planes is an extreme sport. I think with a story like this more could be done to celebrate the correct steps the pilots took to make it a relative non-event (in the eyes of us pilots...)
