WESTFIELD - The pilot of a private aircraft escaped with no injuries after the twin-engine plane suddenly crash-landed during takeoff at around noon Tuesday, according to Barnes Municipal Airport.
The pilot suffered no injuries, said airport manager Chris Willenborg.
The aircraft has been removed from the tarmac and the airport is open, he said.
“He was attempting to land and he lost directional control and it caused him to go right into the ground,” he said.
Video footage shows the plane coming down the the runway and about to take off. It gets off the ground then veers suddenly. The left wing tip struck the ground and the plane landed on its belly and skidded across the runway.
Airport officials were initially calling the crash an “incident,” and not an accident, but Willenborg said Barnes will notify the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board and let them make the determination about which it is.
The FAA considers an accident to be any any event during the operation of the aircraft in which someone is killed or injured, and the aircraft is substantially damaged. An incident is an event without injuries where the aircraft receives some damage.
Willenborg said it is not clear what caused the plane to lose control. Winds at the airport had been consistently at 15 to 20 mph for much of the day, he said.