Plane Crash Lands Next to Texas Little League Field
Source San Antonio Express-News
May 11--SAN ANTONIO -- A Little League baseball game was just getting started Saturday afternoon when a young boy playing outfield began sprinting from his position toward his dugout.
"People were yelling, 'No! What are you doing?'" SA 5 Diamonds Vice President John Luna said. "He was the only one who saw it."
Seconds later, a single-engine aircraft bound for the Stinson Municipal Airport soared over the field, barely making it over the outfield fence before crashing at the edge of a creek between Flores Street and Roosevelt Avenue.
"I thought it was going to explode," said 12-year-old Hector Gonzalez, who was sitting in the dugout when the plane barreled into a fence at the edge of the SA 5 Diamonds' baseball facilities.
Jim Plair was coaching third base when the plane made impact just after 3 p.m. He rushed across the field and jumped a fence to get to the pilot, who managed to pull himself out of the aircraft.
"I thought it was coming in kind of low," he said.
The pilot, who has not yet been identified, missed the baseball diamonds by feet.
"He did a wonderful job," Plair said. "The pilot should be commended. He did the right thing.
SAPD Sgt. Trey Roussel said the pilot told authorities he lost power on approach to the airport. At about 700 feet, it became clear he wasn't going to make it to the landing field.
After the impact, the pilot was able to walk under his own power, though several witnesses helped him away from the mangled, single-engine aircraft smashed against a fence.
The pilot was taken to Mission Trails Baptist Hospital with what authorities described as nonlife-threatening injuries.
No other injuries were reported.
A San Antonio Fire Department hazmat crew was at the scene to make sure no fuel was spilling out of the plane.
Roussel said nothing appeared to have leaked.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board will pick up the investigation to determine what caused the crash.
mdwilson@express-news. net
Twitter: @MDWilsonSA
Copyright 2014 - San Antonio Express-News
