Pilot Walked Away From The Sunday Accident

A Piper PA-24 Comanche went down in a Connecticut cornfield Sunday, but fortunately the pilot walked away from the off-airport landing.

The FAA reported that the accident occurred about 1500 local time. The Comanche had departed from Woodstock airport (64CT) and went down shortly after takeoff.

A witness who owns the farm said he heard the airplane flying low over his barn early in the morning Sunday, then "heard a 'ka-boom'." He said he could not see anything because the corn stands about 10 feet high. He said there was no smoke from the vicinity of the sound of impact. Later, Donald Bennett, the property owner, said a man came to his house and said "I crashed into your cornfield." He said he had taken off from Dudley MA, and was heading to Danielson Airport.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was notified because of the fuel on board the aircraft. A DEEP spokesman said that there was no sign of a fuel leak, and the agency drained the airplane's wing tanks after the NTSB finished its on-site investigation. But the plane will stay in the field for a while. The Norwich Bulletin reports that it will not be removed from the field until the corn is harvested this fall.

Bennett said the unidentified pilot offered to pay for the damage to his crops.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov