Student pilot uninjured in weekend plane crash
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/63121/
LOST SPRINGS — Along the southern road bordering the Lost Bridge airstrip, an airplane wing is visible entangled in the trees on the steep slope. There, two signs stating “ Pilot OK, has gone for help” and “ Caution, Flammable” have been taped to the wing tip.
A resident of the area, David Schilling, also a pilot, said he saw the commotion Saturday night and had heard that a student pilot had run off the runway.
“ No one was hurt in the accident; the pilot was the only individual aboard the aircraft, ” said Marshall Watson of the Benton County Office of Emergency Management.
At approximately 5: 30 p. m. or 6 p. m. Saturday, Joe Holloway, a student pilot flying a single-engine 1977 Cessna two-seater airplane, was landing at the Lost Bridge airstrip, Watson said.
After landing the airplane, Holloway skidded through some grass on the edge of the runway. The plane came to rest on a hillside off the runway, Watson said.
Watson added that no hazardous materials were released from the aircraft.
The plane, which is registered to Brent Fontana out of the Rogers Municipal Airport, is owned by Flight Star LLC, a corporation.
From the runway, which is on the top of a peninsula on the shores of Beaver Lake, just a tip of the wing can be seen behind the yellow caution tape.
The 25-year-old, 3, 220-foot airstrip was repaved last year. It runs northwest / southeast and sits below Whitney Mountain.
Staff writer Annette Beard contributed to this report.