EUTAW SPRINGS — A single-engine aircraft landed upside-down just a few yards shy of a nearby landing strip for radio controlled model planes Monday evening near Rocks Pond Road, just outside of Eutaw Springs.
“The pilot was standing by the plane when I got there,” said Eutawville Fire Department First Responder Ruby Adkins, the first emergency official to arrive on the scene.
“A man, who was a bystander, saw it crash and ran out and helped the pilot out of the airplane,” Adkins said.
“Everything was upright when I got here,” she said.
Orangeburg County Fire District Chief Operations Officer Teddy Wolfe said the pilot, described as a male in his 50s from Manning, “refused anything from any of us.” The man was the only person in the plane.
Wolfe said the crash is likely due to “mechanical problems” as the pilot told officials that the plane was “going around in circles” before it careened into a field just yards from the Rutledge International Airport landing strip, which is geared for much smaller planes.
Orangeburg County Emergency Services Director Billy Staley was also at the scene.
“I’m just glad he’s OK,” Staley said.
Staley said he will notify the Federal Aviation Administration of the incident.
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