Mon, Jul 02, 2007
Reports: House Just 500 Feet From Runway
A 71-year old pilot attempting to return to the air after his
Cessna 500 Citation ran out of room on a wet runway at Conway
Municipal Airport (KCWS) slammed into a nearby house Saturday,
killing himself and a woman inside the home, according to local
media reports.
A fire that started after the crash, which occurred just after
2:50 pm, took about two hours to put out, according to Conway Fire
Chief Bart Castleberry. The airport is located 26 miles north of
Little Rock.
FAA officials said the pilot "landed long" on the runway, then
tried to reapply power and take off again. One witness said it
looked like the pilot knew he wasn't going to stop and hit full
thrust, but his wheels never left the ground.
A passenger in the plane and the woman's husband, who was
cutting the grass outside their home, survived the crash. Both were
hospitalized.
Conway Fire Chief Bart Castleberry said neighboring houses were
evacuated and mourners attending a funeral in a nearby cemetery
were briefly stranded when emergency crews blocked off the
area.
The FAA closed the Conway airport Saturday afternoon; it was to
reopen Sunday.
A similar accident occurred in 1990, when a twin-engine airplane
crashed into a fence and a house as it tried to land at the
airport, killing the plane's co-pilot.
Conway officials have debated for decades whether to move the
airport; its main runway has little room for expansion because of
development in the surrounding area. The house the Citation
impacted is reported to be just 500 feet off the end of the
runway.
The crash is under investigation by the FAA and the NTSB.
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