Pilot injured near Crooked Creek Airport

BUNN, N.C. (WNCN) — A single-engine plane crashed in Franklin County Saturday afternoon — less than a week after a plane crashed in Cumberland County and a plane made a hard landing at RDU International in Raleigh.

The crash happened shortly after 5:05 p.m. Saturday near Crooked Creek Airport, a small airport about a mile south of Bunn in Franklin County, according to authorities.

The accident occurred near the intersection of Reid Road and Howard Tant Road,
about two blocks from the airport, Thorpe said.

The plane crashed with just the pilot on board, an 80-year-old man who suffered moderate injuries, said Nicholas Thorpe, Franklin County emergency management director.

The yellow plane with black trim, badly damaged to the front and one wing, was in a field near a fence after the crash. There was no fire after the crash, but there was a fuel leak, Thorpe said.

Authorities weren't sure what type of plane crashed, but Thorpe said it was a type “normally used as a tow plane for gliders.”

Based on the tail number, the plane appears to be a 1968 Callair A-9B Aero Commander and is owned by the North Carolina Soaring Association, according to the FAA.

The North Carolina Soaring Association, a group that flies gliders, is based at Crooke Creek Airport.

A 16-year-old glider pilot lost control and crashed while trying to land last year at Crooked Creek Airport, officials said. The teen's glider collided with a plane on the ground and the teen suffered injuries that required him to be transported to an area hospital.

It is unclear where the plane took off from or where it was heading when it crashed.