Three people were injured Monday when a small plane collided with an unoccupied aircraft at a Bucks County, Penn. airport.
The incident occurred at Doylestown Airport shortly before 12:30 p.m. First responders from Buckingham Township received a report of a single-engine plane crash off the runway that took place before the plane could take off.
At one point it left the runway and hit a parked, empty plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday evening the pilot had abandoned a landing attempt and was trying to pull back up into the air before the impact.
Photos and video of the aftermath showed the plane that had been in motion — with its landing gear not extended — wedged underneath the front wheel of the other plane.
The three occupants were outside of the plane when first responders arrived and were hospitalized for evaluation of their injuries. Their conditions are unknown.
Hank Diekman, a veteran pilot who was at the scene, told ABC 6 Philadelphia the situation could have been much worse.
“A lot of blood, a lot of cuts, but they’ll survive,” he said.
“I thought he would have an explosion if he went into the hangar, but he hit the plane. Good thing he didn’t hit the hangar, there were a lot of planes in there.”
The cause of the crash is under investigation, but Dale Shafer, another veteran pilot at the airport, said weather probably contributed.
“It was a bad day. There was an awful crosswind,” he said, adding other pilots had complained about turbulence.
The NTSB is expected to join the FAA in the investigation.
