The pilot and passenger walked away after their single-engine private plane crash landed in a cow pasture in Huntly, Virginia (VA), but both would up hospitalized with second- and third-degree burns. According to the pilot and eyewitnesses, the March 4, 2012, aviation accident occurred after the engine began sputtering. The Rappahannock News also reported that the crash could easily have proven fatal, as the plane clipped some trees on the way down and the pilot managed to guide his craft most of the way to the ground rather than allowing the plane to plummet from the sky.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Board have opened investigations into the crash, as the agencies do each time an airplane is involved in an accident that results in injuries or deaths. FAA and NTSB investigators will no doubt focus on the engine, checking whether defective parts or improper maintenance created the problem that brought the plane down.
Regardless of the agencies’ findings, I know as both a licensed pilot and a Virginia personal injury attorney that any aviation accident puts pilots and passengers at significant risk. I wish the people hurt in the Huntly airplane crash full and speedy recoveries.
EJLÂ