PLAINVILLE-- A pilot suffered only minor injuries after a plane crashed near Robertson Field Airport on Monday.
The crash occurred at 11:25 a.m., when the plane veered off the runway, according to the FAA.
The plane landed in a tree in the parking lot of Carling Technologies.
The plane was a 1981 single engine Cessna 172 model owned by Interstate Aviation Inc., which is run out of Robertson Airport. The pilot, Manfred Forst, was transported to The Hospital of Central CT with what appeared to be minor injuries. He has been discharged.
Forst told FOX61 he is doing fine and is fortunate and thankful nothing happened.
The FAA said that they are investigating the cause of the crash but officials did say there was a small fuel leak.
This is the most recent plane crash this year, with the last one being in Salisbury on August 13.
James Seaver died in a plane crash at the airport in 2012 when his plane went down short of the runway. He was being investigated for child sex assault at the time.
Veteran Pilot and Aviation doctor Michael Teiger said every crash is to be looked at individually, which is the job of the FAA, but generally speaking, he believes aviation is space.
"Aviation in and of itself is a safe experience for people who follow the rules of course there are human errors that happen where mistakes are gonna happen and that's the human element of flying but aviation in and of itself is safe," he said. "The FAA sets up tremendous rules and regulations for what pilots are supposed to do and not do, we go through extensive checks before we take off, we’re supposed to have recurring training, we’re supposed to have our aircraft checked on a regular basis either annually or bi-annually so there are a lot of checks and balances that are much different than driving a car."