Ultralight plane crash - Occurred September 28, 2012 in New Germany, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia

The pilot was seriously injured after this ultralight plane crashed in New Germany, Lunenburg County. The man, 46, was airlifted to hospital in Halifax. (Submitted) 

A New Germany man who’s plane can regularly be seen flying over the community was airlifted to Halifax on Friday afternoon after his plane crashed.

Residents said the pilot was 46-year-old Trevor Myra.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Scott MacRae said the crash happened just after 2 p.m. “Shortly after he took off, he crashed in the woods near an ATV trail in the location,” MacRae said.

There are unconfirmed reports the plane hit a tree.

Myra took his pilot training at East Coast Ultralight in Lawrencetown in the Annapolis Valley. According to the school’s website, Myra took his first solo flight on Oct. 1, 2009. “Trevor will be completing his training in the next week or so and be off soaring the skies!” the site said.

It says Myra became fully licensed just over a month later, on Nov. 12, and was welcomed home by his sister and friends when his Chinook landed on his private airfield.

Chief Blair Lantz of the New Germany Volunteer Fire Department said Myra was the only occupant of the two-seater plane that crashed Friday.

“He was able to get out on his own,” he said, and was suffering what appeared to be head injuries.

No one in the community seems to have seen the crash, but Myra’s friend was on the airstrip when it happened and ran to his aid.

“He took him to the ambulance station (in New Germany),” Lantz said, where paramedics assessed him and called for the helicopter.

That’s when the fire department was called in, because it had to ensure the landing zone in the soccer field behind New Germany High School was clear of debris.

Students had no school Friday because of an in-service, and teachers were asked to stay inside the building. A fire truck turned its lights on and parked under electrical wires to worn the helicopter to steer clear of the wires.

The fire department was then called to the actual crash site because gasoline was leaking from the plane. “We put down some absorbent material and foam,” Lantz said.

A total of 17 firefighters were involved in the effort. “Everything went according to plan,” Lantz said.

The RCMP then had a local contractor with a back hoe pick up the broken plane and put it on a flat bed trailer.

The environment department went to the scene to ensure no gasoline leaked into any local waterways.

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