Stow Fire Lt. Barry Evers didn’t think twice before he jumped into the Assabet River in Stow to rescue the pilot of an ultralight plane that crashed into the water Tuesday morning.
“The water was perfectly still and we couldn’t see any signs of life,” he said. “I knew additional resources were a ways out so I started to swim.”
A short while later, Firefighter Gregory Vogel paddled out toward the plane in a borrowed canoe, arriving before Evers did. Neither Vogel nor Evers knew the injured pilot had already made it to shore.
“We thought (the pilot) was still in the plane,” Evers said. “We had no reason to believe otherwise.”
The man was taken by ambulance to Lahey Clinic in Burlington, said Fire Chief Joseph Landry, with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries.
The pilot was taking off from Skunk Island Airpark on the morning of Nov. 8, but when his plane cleared the trees, it crashed into the river.
Evers said the man did not tell him what had happened and the cause of the crash has not yet been determined. The main concern, Evers said, was that gasoline from the plane would leak into the river, although it didn’t appear that the tank had ruptured and the plane did not seem to be heavily damaged.
Firefighters from Maynard and Acton also assisted.
“This ended as good as we hoped,” Evers said. “It wasn’t as serious as it could have been.”
The crash is being investigated by State Police, the Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Aviation Administration.
Story and photo gallery: http://stow.wickedlocal.com
STOW, Mass. - An Ultralight plane went down Tuesday morning in Stow, Massachusetts.
The plane went down in the Assabet River near Crowe Island around 9 a.m., Stow Police told FOX25.
Fire rescuers found a 55-year-old near the shore. Police say he pulled himself out of the plane and and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. He was taken to a clinic in Burlington.
According to officials, the plane was attempting to take off from Crowe Island Airfield but only made it about 300 yards at tree level before nose-diving into the river.
The Federal Aviation Administration, along with other Mass. agencies, are investigating the incident. The plane was carrying less than 5 gallons of fuel, when it crashed.
Source: http://www.fox25boston.com
STOW, Mass. —A small ultralight aircraft has crashed into a Massachusetts river and authorities say the pilot was taken to the hospital.
The aircraft crashed into the Assabet River in Stow at about 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The crash occurred near Crow Island, which has a small airfield.
Police say the pilot was taken to Lahey Hospital with minor injuries.
No one else was on board.
Source: http://www.wcvb.com
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