New York: Pilot from New Paltz suffers minor injuries in crash of experimental plane in Kerhonkson

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KERHONKSON — A New Paltz man was left without major injuries Thursday evening when his experimental single-engine plane crashed into a horse farm near Old Queens Highway in Kerhonkson.

State police in Ellenville said when they arrived on the scene of the crash, they found the plane resting on its nose, with pilot Mark Thomas, 50, already outside the plane conscious and alert.

Police said an initial investigation showed that the plane had taken off from an airstrip in Plattekill and was flying over a field when it somehow struck a tree.

Thomas was taken from the scene by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie.

Ulster County 911 supervisor Andy Buboltz said the downed plane, an experimental class two-seat biplane, was reported by a passer-by at 5:43 p.m. and emergency personnel arrived soon after.

State police, the lead agency at the scene, and Ulster County Sheriff's Office responded along with Kerhonkson Accord First Aid Squad, the Kerhonkson Fire Company and Mobil Life.

Wally Nichols, the owner of the 148-acre horse farm at 15 Old Queens Highway, said he was in Colorado at the time of the crash, but he received a call from emergency responders that the plane went into a small grove of trees near his home.

State police said the cause for the crash was unknown, but an investigation by The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board is pending.