EMB Crashes into a WalMart

[er340790]

Emergency crews work at the scene of the plane crash.


MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (AP) -- A small plane with only the pilot on board crashed into a Wal-Mart Tuesday. The pilot was pulled from the wreckage badly hurt, but there were no reports of injuries on the ground.

"I just saw a huge ball of smoke go up," said Maria Kosmakata, who was driving to her job at a nearby car dealership.

The Embraer cargo plane had just taken off from Manchester Airport, about 1 mile from the store, when it hit the Wal-Mart garden center at 7:20 a.m., said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Murray.

The pilot was pulled from the wreckage by workers at the car dealership and was taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately available.

Rick Osgood, who works at the dealership, helped carry the pilot away and said he appeared badly hurt.

The plane, operated by Business Air Freight, was headed to Bangor, Maine, Murray said.

Jim Hill, who lives near the airport, said it seemed like the plane tried re-approach airport after taking off when it struck the eastern corner of the Wal-Mart store.

The store was evacuated after the crash, and there were no known injuries on the ground.

[barit1]

By Associated Press


MANCHESTER, N.H. - A small cargo plane with only the pilot on board crashed into a Wal-Mart garden center a mile from Manchester Airport on Tuesday. The pilot was able to walk away.

The store was evacuated after the twin-engine Embraer clipped the store's garden center at 7:20 a.m. There were no known injuries on the ground and the building wasn't damaged, fire officials said.

"I just saw a huge ball of smoke go up," said Maria Kosmakata, who was driving to her job at a nearby Saturn auto dealership.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was bound for Bangor, Maine.

Paul Seyler-Schmidt, 32, of Bangor, "was walking out, a lot of blood on his head, (and) appeared to have a broken leg," said Rick Osgood, a worker at a nearby Saturn dealership who went to the crash.

Jim Hill, who lives near the airport, said the plane tried approaching the north runway of the airport, but it struck the Wal-Mart. Seyler-Schmidt was "trying to get back to the airport as quickly as possible, but there was definitely one engine out and it was too low," Hill said.

Police said Seyler-Schmidt was taken to Elliot Hospital, but his condition was not immediately known.

"Reports are that he's conscious, that he knows what's going on, that he's asked for his wife," said Robin Outwater of AirNow, the Bennington, Vt.-based company that operates the plane. "He seems to be doing just fine."

Seyler-Schmidt, who had recently moved to Maine from Wilmington, N.C., and has been flying for over 10 years, was delivering cargo on a routine run for United Parcel Service, Outwater said.

"He apparently experienced mechanical difficulty during takeoff and attempted to circle back and land at the airport," Outwater said.

A spokesman at Manchester Airport said the flights were uninterrupted by the crash.

Police believed the curiosity factor at the scene may have contributed to a four-car accident on Route 101. There were no injuries.

An Air Force test pilot died in the same area in 1998 when his plane crashed in a sandpit near the site of Tuesday's crash. Col. John Childress of Columbia, S.C., was credited with preventing the plane from crashing into nearby businesses.

In January, the pilot of an AirNow plane was killed when his aircraft crashed into heavy fog at Dillant Hopkins Airport in Swanzey.

[MagnusP]

In January, the pilot of an AirNow plane was killed when his aircraft crashed into heavy fog at Dillant Hopkins Airport in Swanzey.
Jeez. That IS heavy fog.