Pilot survives after airplane strikes tree, power line then crashes
Published 5:56 am Thursday, May 23, 2019
A central Mississippi pilot has survived the fiery crash of his experimental aircraft.
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says the aircraft clipped a tree, struck a power line and crashed Wednesday evening.
Hinds County Sheriff’s Major Pete Luke tells local news outlets that the 50-year-old pilot wasn’t injured.
Luke says the pilot told deputies that the aircraft’s engine failed as he approached a landing strip.
A witness says the wheels of the plane hit the power lines and the plane flipped, with the pilot unbuckling his seatbelt, falling to the ground, and running to safety. The plane then caught fire.
FAA registration records reflect the plane was a Challenger kit aircraft built by Raymond resident Dmitriy V. Chistov.
It’s unclear if he was flying the plane.