A small plane overshot the runway at Simsbury Airport Tuesday night, traveled about 250 feet, plowed through a wire fence and into a greenhouse, or hoop house, on a neighboring farm, Fire Chief James Baldis said.
SIMSBURY — Days after a pilot crashed his plane at a Simsbury farm, and then allegedly drove away from the scene with an acquaintance before authorities arrived, few details have been released.
The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-28, overshot the runway at Simsbury Airport on Tuesday night. The plane then traveled about 250 feet and crashed through a wire fence and into a greenhouse at a nearby farm, fire officials said earlier this week.
The pilot, whose name has not been released, was not seriously injured and left before authorities arrived, officials said. Fire officials said an acquaintance of the pilot had been following the plane, which was being taken in for servicing. The chase plane landed safely, and the pilot drove away with the acquaintance.
The farm where the plane crashed is operated by Gifts of Love, a Hartford nonprofit that assists people in crisis with food and other needs. Andrea Hawkins, the organization’s interim director, said as of Friday the aircraft had been removed from the site. The damage to a fence and a “hoop house” — a greenhouse used to incubate seedlings — is still being assessed.
“We’re just really grateful the pilot wasn’t hurt, the farmers weren’t hurt,” Hawkins said, reached by phone Friday.
“The fence was damaged, the hoop house was damaged — those can be replaced, human life can’t,” she added.
It remains unclear if the pilot could face discipline over the incident. Local police said the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. An FAA spokesperson said the agency “does not confirm the identities of individuals involved in aircraft incidents.”
The NTSB is conducting a safety investigation regarding the incident. The agency said it will complete a preliminary report in about two weeks, and the full investigation will take a year or more.
The aircraft took off from an airport in Farmingdale, N.Y. on Long Island, around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon and ascended to around 5,400 feet while crossing Long Island Sound, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking service. It was last reported near Windsor Locks around 7:27 p.m.
FAA records show the registered owner of the plane is a podiatry practice in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. A doctor associated with the practice could not be reached for comment.
Staff writer Liz Hardaway contributed to this report.
Peter Yankowski is a breaking news reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media. He previously reported for the Danbury News-Times and, before that, the Ridgefield Press.