A Cessna 172 crashed into a home in Hanover, Indiana, shortly after taking off from a nearby grass airstrip Wednesday evening, injuring the two people aboard the aircraft while leaving everyone inside the house unhurt. Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies responded to the area of River Bottom Road and Lee Bottom Airfield around 7 p.m. after reports of a small plane going down.
Pilot and Passenger Found With Minor Injuries
According to WLKY, the plane had just departed Lee Bottom Airfield and reportedly came from the Clark County area before the crash. Crews located the pilot and passenger at the scene, and both suffered only minor injuries, the station reports. Jefferson County Sheriff Ben Flint has served 19 years in law enforcement and is also a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, according to his campaign biography from Re-Elect Ben Flint.
Nobody inside the house that the plane struck was hurt, per the sheriff's account relayed in the station's report. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified, the report notes.
A Grass Runway With Known Obstacles
Lee Bottom Flying Field, listed under FAA identifier 64I, is a privately owned, public-use airfield with a 4,080-foot turf runway sitting along the Ohio River at an elevation of 473 feet, according to AirNav. FAA records show that Runway 36 at the field features an 800-foot displaced threshold and is bordered by 40-foot trees positioned just 60 feet from the runway centerline, obstacle conditions that can require pilots to carefully adjust their climb profile after takeoff. AirNav also lists airport-communications information for the field.
The surrounding Ohio River bottomland also features steep bluffs rising several hundred feet above the valley floor. The airfield has a colorful past: the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has documented that the strip operated as a crop-dusting field in the 1950s and an aircraft salvage yard in the 1960s before reopening in April 1991.
The Aircraft Involved in the Crash
The aircraft involved in the crash was identified in reports as a Cessna 172.
The investigation remains ongoing. Local emergency responders in Hanover responded to the crash, while the FAA is responsible for the case and authorities are working with the NTSB as the investigation moves forward.
