A man suffered serious injuries Friday morning when an airplane he was renting crashed just after takeoff from a private airstrip near the Lake Waltana housing addition.
The 48-year-old man had just taken and cleared powerlines at the end of the runaway at 55th Street South, about one-quarter mile east of 231st Street West. The plane apparently crashed just after that, and as of early afternoon was still laying upside in the field across the dirt road, less than 200 yards from the road.
"The owner of the plane observed the take off and said the plane was going very slow and just cleared the power lines," said Capt. George Mason of the Sedgwic County Sheriff's department. He said the plane lost altitude, and the left wing and wheel of the fixed-wheel aircraft hit the ground. That caused the plane to nosedive into the ground and flip once onto its top.
Mason said rescue personnel were on the scene within 10 minutes. Sedgwick County fire personnel, EMS and sheriff's officers responded.
The man reportedly was conscious following the crash, and was airlifted to a Wichita hospital with potentially serious injuries after being trapped in the plane for a short time. The man is an experienced pilot and a flight instructor, and was borrowing the plane.
The name of the pilot and the name of plane's owner have not been released.
The Federal Aviation Administration was expected on site Friday to investigate.
The plane came to rest less than 200 yards from 55th Street South, and apparently just cleared the power lines at the south end of the grass strip runway.
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