South Sound News

Small aircraft crashes in Spanaway field

SPANAWAY, Wash. — A small plane crashed in a Spanaway field Thursday morning, seriously injuring the pilot.

The Titan Tornado I crashed in a field at the southeast corner of the airport at 192nd and B Street.

PHOTOS: Small aircraft crashes in yard

The Titan Tornado I was equipped with a parachute, which witnesses said the pilot deployed right before the crash, although it did no good.

"It just shot him straight to the ground," said Kodiak Wright, who lives next to the crash site. Wright said the plane fell "like a sack of potatoes."

Witnesses and a fellow pilot said it appears the pilot experienced some kind of engine trouble shortly after taking off from the small Spanaway Airport, and that he was trying to return to the runway when he crashed into an adjacent field.

Rescuers from Central Pierce Fire and Rescue had to extricate the pilot, a man in his thirties, from the wreckage.

A fire spokesman said the man was in serious condition when he left for the hospital with injuries to his "lower extremity," internal chest injuries and a laceration on his face.

A Sheriff's Department spokesman said the pilot had leg injuries.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the crash.

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