Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

Geneve Hyman and her dinner companion had just returned from an evening out when they realized something was different about the 75-year old woman's backyard. There was a plane in it.

"We went out and had dinner, and coming back we see all of this,” Hyman said, standing next to a Columbia police car parked on her property near the Columbia-Owens Downtown Airport (SC).

Police say the unidentified pilot, flying a Piper PA-28R-200 (file photo of type, right)was on approach to the airport when he clipped some trees and went down in Ms. Hyman's yard. A shed in the adjoining yard was destroyed.

"The wing was sticking up out of it," police spokesman Skot Garrick said.

The aircraft, registered to Frank J. Donovan of Granby (MA), was on a flight from Burlington (CT) to Aiken (SC) when FAA officials in Atlanta say it diverted to Columbia. No reason for the diversion was given. The pilot is reportedly in good condition.

After taking in all the excitement, Ms. Hyman was apparently none too impressed. "I’ll go to bed," she said Saturday night. "I’ll just let them do their thing."

FMI: http://www2.faa.gov/avr/aai/iirform.htm