Plane Crash

A man escaped injury Monday afternoon when his single-engine aircraft crashed in a farm field west of Inwood, a Berkeley County emergency dispatcher said. The initial call for the plane crash in a field near the intersection of National Fruit and Goldmiller roads came at about 3:29 p.m., the dispatcher said. By the time emergency crews arrived, the pilot had crawled out of the wreck with just cuts and bruises, said Rick Petry, chief of South Berkeley Volunteer Fire Co. Petry said the pilot was “very lucky” to emerge unscathed from the wreck.

kimy@herald-mail.com julieg@herald-mail.com A single-engine plane en route to Chattanooga, Tenn., crashed into rocky Fairview Mountain west of Clear Spring Friday morning, killing the pilot who had been visiting relatives in Waynesboro, Pa., Maryland State Police said. Roy L. Hess, 71, of Pensacola, Fla., was pronounced dead at the scene, Maryland State Police said. There were no passengers. Hess' daughter, Sharon Hess Herrick, said Hess was born and raised in Waynesboro, Pa. Although he moved away when he joined the U.S. Navy in the 1950s, he owned a house on Country Club Road that he visited several times a year, Herrick said.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Polish President Lech Kaczynski and some of the country's highest military and civilian leaders died on Saturday when the presidential plane crashed as it came in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia, killing 96, officials said. Russian and Polish officials said there were no survivors on the 26-year-old Tupolev, which was taking the president, his wife and staff to events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police.

SCOTLAND, Pa. - The owner of a small plane that crashed just after take-off Tuesday evening said the aircraft had reached an altitude of about 150 feet when the engine died. [cont. from front page ] Stephen K. Gilman, 52, of 15538 Dogwood Drive, Fort Loudon, Pa., said he didn't have much time to be scared as the plane began to fall from the sky. "You just experience it," he said. Gilman said he bought the 1964 Piper Colt a few months ago and planned to learn to fly. The plane was being piloted by Robert Parmer, address unavailable, of Chambersburg, Pa., when they took off at about 8 p.m. from a small private airstrip north of Chambersburg Mall.

By KERRY LYNN FRALEY Staff Writer BOONSBORO - A Boonsboro business owner died Monday when his homemade biplane crashed in a cornfield across Antietam Creek from his Manor Church Road home, officials said. Richard Lawrence "Larry" Crane, 46, had just taken off from a private airstrip on his property when his wife, Laurie, heard the plane crash and drove over to the field, authorities said. There was nothing she could do to help her husband, who was alone inside the burning plane, Thomas E. Wetzel Sr., a forensic investigator with the state Medical Examiner's Office, said.

OLDTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Maryland State police say a Pennsylvania man escaped serious injury when the plane he was piloting crashed in Green Ridge State Forest. Police say 75-year-old pilot Donald Myers of Needmore, Pa., suffered a small cut on the hand after the engine of the 2009 Kitfox fixed wing aircraft stopped running Sunday morning in the Oldtown area of Allegany County. The plane was wedged between two trees several feet off the ground, but police say Myers freed himself and walked to a road, where he was picked up by a passer-by.

ST. THOMAS, PA. The pilot of a small plane found Sunday in a remote part of Montgomery Township died of injuries sustained when the plane crashed last week, according to Franklin County Coroner Jeffrey R. Conner. The body of David K. Weiss, 72, was removed Monday morning from the wreckage of the Cessna 172 and the autopsy was performed at Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown, Pa., in the afternoon, Conner said. He listed the cause of death of the Bethesda, Md., man as multiple blunt force trauma.

Washington County's Emergency Operations/911 Dispatch Center performed well in a statewide Y2K emergency preparedness exercise Thursday, said Washington County Public Information Officer Norman Bassett. The exercise included 17 different mock drills, ranging from inoperative gas pumps to a plane crash. It was conducted by the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. Agency representative Kip Kemboi watched how the state and county responded to problems during the drills and praised the county staff led by County Emergency Operations Manager Ron Karn.

Seven members of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command have died on duty in three helicopter and one fixed-wing crash. There have been no fatalities since 1986. Those who gave their lives include: · Trooper 1st Class Arthur W. Plummer Jr., who died April 9, 1961. He was killed in a plane crash while attempting to take off from Assateague Island after locating an individual. He was 36. · Trooper 1st Class Thomas A. Noyle and Trooper 1st Class Phillip L. Russ died Oct. 28, 1972.

o KTUU-TV coverage of fatal crash DILLINGHAM, Alaska (AP) -- An amphibious plane carrying former Sen. Ted Stevens crashed into a remote mountainside during a fishing trip, killing the state's most beloved political figure and four others and stranding the survivors on a rocky, brush-covered slope overnight. Three teenagers and their parents, including the former head of NASA, were on the plane when it plowed into the mountain Monday afternoon with so much force that it left a 300-foot gash on the slope, federal investigators said.

When he was a boy, Robert L. “Bob” Burkhart earned money pumping gas - into airplanes, not cars. At an air field known as North End Airport north of Martinsburg, Burkhart, now 84, recalled selling tickets for airplane rides and pulling props on the weekends to earn money for his own flight training. Burkhart said he rode his bicycle from his childhood home on Pennsylvania Avenue to the grass airstrip every weekend to work “I first soloed when I was 16,” said Burkhart, who was recognized last week for his many years of service on the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport Authority.

A man escaped injury Monday afternoon when his single-engine aircraft crashed in a farm field west of Inwood, a Berkeley County emergency dispatcher said. The initial call for the plane crash in a field near the intersection of National Fruit and Goldmiller roads came at about 3:29 p.m., the dispatcher said. By the time emergency crews arrived, the pilot had crawled out of the wreck with just cuts and bruises, said Rick Petry, chief of South Berkeley Volunteer Fire Co. Petry said the pilot was “very lucky” to emerge unscathed from the wreck.

The 2011 Thunder Over the Blue Ridge Open House & Air Show, despite being cut short by the fiery crash of a post-World War II aircraft that killed a pilot, met all of its financial obligations thanks to the generosity of performers, sponsors and the community, organizers announced Tuesday. "Everyone gave back, something, somewhere," said Col. Brian Truman, vice commander of the 167th Airlift Wing Air National Guard and president of the board for Thunder Over the Blue Ridge Inc. Whether the show returns next year to the National Guard unit's base at Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport remains to be decided, Truman said.

A 70-year-old Connecticut man was dead after he crashed a small airplane into a home in Berkeley County early Wednesday evening, according to a police press release. The plane struck the home and an attached wooden deck in the Little Georgetown area of Hedgesville at about 5:30 p.m., according to the release from the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. The residence was just east of Green Landings, a private airfield off McCoys Ferry Road. The pilot, Harry L. Weber, was flown by helicopter to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Va., where he was pronounced dead, the release said.

Federal investigators have interviewed other pilots involved in a maneuver that killed one of their teammates Saturday afternoon during the first day of the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge Air Show in Berkeley County, W.Va. The pilot of a post-World War II airplane participating in an aerobatics maneuver was killed in the crash at the 167th Airlift Wing base. The Associated Press identified the pilot as John “Flash” Mangan of Concord, N.C. Representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration spent Sunday documenting the site, obtaining video, interviewing witnesses, interviewing other pilots from the Trojan Horsemen Flight Demonstration Team and gathering statements from air traffic controllers.

o KTUU-TV coverage of fatal crash DILLINGHAM, Alaska (AP) -- An amphibious plane carrying former Sen. Ted Stevens crashed into a remote mountainside during a fishing trip, killing the state's most beloved political figure and four others and stranding the survivors on a rocky, brush-covered slope overnight. Three teenagers and their parents, including the former head of NASA, were on the plane when it plowed into the mountain Monday afternoon with so much force that it left a 300-foot gash on the slope, federal investigators said.

NEW DELHI (AP) -- As many as 160 people were feared dead after an Air India plane arriving from Dubai crashed Saturday as it overshot a runway while trying to land in southern India. Television images showed dense black smoke billowing from the aircraft surrounded by flames just outside the Mangalore city airport in a hilly area with thick grass and trees. Firefighters sprayed water on the plane as rescue workers struggled to find survivors. One firefighter ran up a hill with an injured child in his arms.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Polish President Lech Kaczynski and some of the country's highest military and civilian leaders died on Saturday when the presidential plane crashed as it came in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia, killing 96, officials said. Russian and Polish officials said there were no survivors on the 26-year-old Tupolev, which was taking the president, his wife and staff to events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police.

OLDTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Maryland State police say a Pennsylvania man escaped serious injury when the plane he was piloting crashed in Green Ridge State Forest. Police say 75-year-old pilot Donald Myers of Needmore, Pa., suffered a small cut on the hand after the engine of the 2009 Kitfox fixed wing aircraft stopped running Sunday morning in the Oldtown area of Allegany County. The plane was wedged between two trees several feet off the ground, but police say Myers freed himself and walked to a road, where he was picked up by a passer-by.

Seven members of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command have died on duty in three helicopter and one fixed-wing crash. There have been no fatalities since 1986. Those who gave their lives include: · Trooper 1st Class Arthur W. Plummer Jr., who died April 9, 1961. He was killed in a plane crash while attempting to take off from Assateague Island after locating an individual. He was 36. · Trooper 1st Class Thomas A. Noyle and Trooper 1st Class Phillip L. Russ died Oct. 28, 1972.