(UPDATE 7:02 p.m.) — The Aviation Inspector for the FAA believes weather was not a factor in the crash. The plane had fuel at the time of the crash. The FAA says it could be a year before the full investigation is complete.
LINCOLN, Ill. (WMBD) — More information has been released by the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) Thursday after a small plane crashed in Lincoln Wednesday.
According to the FAA, two people on board the plane were sent to a hospital in Springfield with non-life-threatening injuries.
The fixed-wing single-engine aircraft crashed southwest of Logan County airport next to Open Arms Christian Fellowship at approximately 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The two people in the airplane were completing proficiency training through touch and go’s. That’s when they take off and land the plane multiple times. On their final touch and go, the plane crashed less than a half mile away from the airport which was its destination.
The pilot of the plane was certified and the passenger was a flight instructor.
The lead pastor at the church, Larry Crawford, saw the incident and said it was a miracle they are both alive.
“It looks like the plane what it did was land on the flower bed there, which I believe was actually a real blessing because we had built that flower bed up, there was some dirt but we put a bunch of mulch in there so I really believe that made a better landing than what it could’ve been,” Crawford said.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating this incident.