PLYMOUTH, Conn — A small plane crashed into a campground in Plymouth on Monday. Emergency crews responded quickly and worked through the day to clean up the wreckage.
The call came in at 11 a.m. for a plane crash at Gentile’s Campground. The aircraft was being flown by a female student pilot. According to the Associated Press, she was attempting a solo cross-country flight.
The pilot crashed into the treetops, causing the plane to go belly up as it came to a rest just feet away from families camping and live electrical lines.
“I’m grateful. Someone up there is watching me,” remarked Joanne York, still still shaken up after witnessing the crash. “We just stepped off the deck and it sounded like M80’s. We heard this big crash and I thought maybe a camper tipped over."
But it wasn’t a camper, it was an aircraft.
“We're not sure if they were trying to land. That’s a possibility,” said Plymouth Fire Chief Mark Sekorski. “It hit the tree and came down in the middle of the campground.”
In the middle of the campground, just feet away from occupied RV’s, were propane tanks and the main electrical source.
“It shook the ground,” said York.
“It could have been very much a disaster here,” added Sekorski.
The only one in the aircraft was the student pilot. She was initially trapped in the mangled metal but was rescued by campgoers and first responders. She was seriously injured but was conscious and alert.
“It could have been tragic,” said York.
The airspace overhead is a popular flight path with a small private airport just down the road. The situation is not unique to first responders.
“This is not uncommon here for us,” said Sekorski. “We’ve had several in the last 10 years, probably five planes have gone down.”
They are never expected to fall out of the sky feet away from your family. “Too close to home. Too close to home,” said York.
The plane was a small propeller training plane that initially took off from New York. The FAA, NTSB are investigating what happened and Connecticut environmental officials were also on scene to clean up about 60 gallons of high-octane aviation fuel.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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