CAMARILLO : Man Injured in Crash of Plane at Airport
A man flying an experimental single-engine plane crashed Saturday shortly after takeoff from Camarillo Airport and was hospitalized with minor injuries, authorities said.
The plane’s engine started sputtering when the aircraft was about 200 feet off the ground, said Capt. Tom Kruschke of the airport fire station. Then the plane suddenly dropped, landing hard on its left wing in an agricultural field between the runway and an airplane taxi strip, Kruschke said.
Pilot Michael Thomas, 38, suffered cuts and possible broken ribs in the accident, which occurred about 5 p.m. Authorities said they did not know where Thomas was from, but that he was not a local resident.
He was listed in stable condition at St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said.
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