Witnesses Say Plane Couldn't Gain Altitude

Two Rochester, NY-area men are doing well after their vintage Taylorcraft went down Saturday afternoon, shortly after takeoff from a private grass airstrip in Parma, NY.

Pilot Michael Barclay, 49, and passenger David Finger, 56, were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Barclay was discharged Sunday, while Finger remained in satisfactory condition.

Witness Kathy D'Aries said the plane barely cleared her father's antique shop in front of the airfield before crashing in the woods behind her home.

"It almost hit the house and it kept fluttering around," D'Aries' father told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. "(Kathy) even ducked, it was so low. (The pilot) was revving the engine and it just didn't sound right."

Neighbor Neal Draper, 40, saw the plane quickly ascend just before it crashed.

The DC-65 (file photo of type, above) was a 1942 model registered to Rochester Waterwings Inc. of Fairport, NY.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating why the plane had trouble gaining altitude.

FMI: www.taylorcraft.com, www.faa.gov