Goldsboro pilot crashes plane in Grantham field
By From staff reports
Published in News on January 22, 2015 1:46 PM
GRANTHAM -- A Goldsboro pilot escaped injury Wednesday afternoon around 5:30 p.m. when a mechanical problem forced him to attempt an emergency landing of his one-seat ultra-light aircraft in a field near Grantham.
The aircraft, piloted by Ronnie Allen, 67, landed in a field on Stevens Mill Road near its intersection with Falling Creek Church Road.
"He said he was flying when the prop seized up and stopped rotating," said Wayne County Highway Patrol First Sgt. G.L. Burton said. "He saw a field and tried to put down in it."
However, the dirt was so soft that instead of rolling, the wheel sank into the dirt pitching the aircraft forward and onto its nose.
Damages to the plane, basically a glider with an engine, were light, Burton said.
By law, the Highway Patrol has to respond and secure the scene of such incidents until it cleared by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA.
Both the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA were contacted and allowed the aircraft to be moved to a hangar at the Grantham Aero Club.