Pilot Injured After Plane Flips, Skids

The pilot of a courier plane taking off for San Diego from Burbank Airport was seriously injured Thursday after her twin-engine craft flipped and skidded off the runway, authorities said.

No one else was hurt in the 6:51 a.m. crash and no flights were delayed, although one of two runways was closed for more than two hours during the busiest part of the airport’s day, airport spokesman Victor Gill said.

Federal Aviation Administration investigators were inspecting the wreckage of the Beechcraft Baron Thursday afternoon, but had not determined the cause of the crash. Weather was clear and winds were light.

Airport officials estimated that pilot Aud Vagsether, 28, was traveling between 80 and 100 m.p.h. when the aircraft overturned and skidded onto a patch of grass. It was unclear if the plane had lifted off before it flipped over.

Damage to the plane was substantial.

Emergency crews pulled Vagsether, a pilot for Pacific Air Charter in San Diego, from the wreckage about five minutes after the crash and took her to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

Vagsether was in surgery for more than two hours as doctors removed debris from the skin of her thumb, nose and scalp, medical center spokeswoman Maggie Cessar said. Vagsether will undergo more surgery today, Cessar said.

Larry Wilson, owner of Pacific Air Charter, would not comment on how long Vagsether had been flying or how long she had worked for his company, a 12-plane service that ferries documents and parcels throughout Southern California.