RIDGEFIELD -- A town pilot is recovering from injuries suffered when his single-propeller plane careened into a sparsely populated residential area over the weekend, just minutes after takeoff from Danbury Municipal Airport, officials said.
According to investigators, Robert Baldwin, of Old Sib Road, crashed his 1979 Mooney M20K into the backyard of a house on Briar Ridge Road on Saturday afternoon.
On Monday morning, Baldwin was listed in good condition at Danbury Hospital, said hospital spokeswoman Diane Burke. She declined to comment on a possible timetable for his release from the hospital.
Baldwin told authorities that shortly after the plane was airborne, he lost power. Flight logs show he took off about 12:35 p.m., investigators said.
A Plainfield-based aircraft recovery firm loaded the plane onto a flatbed trailer Sunday afternoon, said Ridgefield Fire Chief Heather Burford, and shipped it to Plainfield Airport in eastern Connecticut.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accident.
The NTSB is not expected to release a preliminary report until next week, investigators said.
"He's a fine gentleman (and) a good pilot," Paul Estefan, the airport's administrator, said about Baldwin.
Estefan declined to venture a guess about what may have led to the crash.
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