A single-engine plane used for skydiving operations lost control while landing at Lee Airport on Saturday morning, skidding through a ditch and coming to rest on State Route 225 in Lexington Township. The pilot, the only person aboard, suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital, while two skydivers who had jumped from the same aircraft only moments earlier had already touched down safely in a nearby field.
According to the Cleveland 19 News report, the crash happened around 10:41 a.m. Saturday at Lee Airport in Stark County. The aircraft, a 1957 Cessna 182A operated by Canton Air Sports, continued through its designated landing zone before striking a ditch and skidding onto the highway. The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Canton post is investigating the crash, which closed the roadway while crews worked the scene.
The pilot was identified by state investigators as 22-year-old Savannah Lambert of Twin Falls, Idaho, according to Jordan Miller News. She was transported to Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital following the crash, per the station’s report. The outlet also confirmed that a skydiving instructor and a customer had already exited the plane and landed safely in a nearby field in the moments before the pilot circled back to attempt the landing, explaining why Lambert was the aircraft’s sole occupant during the final, failed touchdown.
Multiple Agencies Respond to Highway Closure
Troopers received help on scene from the Stark County Sheriff’s Office, the Lexington Fire Department, emergency medical transport crews, Marlboro Towing, and the Ohio Department of Transportation, the seed report noted. That kind of multi-agency coordination is familiar territory for the county: the Stark County Sheriff’s Office recorded 31 fatal traffic accidents on county roadways in 2025, a tally that underscores how often local responders must juggle crashes that spill onto active roads, as Hoodline has previously reported on county crash data.
Both the FAA and the NTSB have been notified and will conduct separate investigations into the cause of the crash, the original report stated. Federal oversight of jump aircraft like the Cessna 182A falls under 14 CFR Part 105, which sets cloud clearance, radio notification, and parachute packing standards enforced by certified riggers, according to the eCFR.
A Decades-Old Skydiving Operation in Northeast Ohio
Canton Air Sports has run commercial skydiving operations and parachuting instruction in Northeast Ohio since 1974, flying Cessna 182 aircraft for jump flights, according to the company’s own history. The business operated out of the former Canton Municipal Airport before relocating its hangar and dropzone facilities to the Alliance area in 1996, as detailed by The Akron Legal News.
This is not the first mishap tied to the operation. A June 2020 skydiving incident affiliated with Canton Air Sports left a 63-year-old student jumper injured near Alliance, who was transported to Akron City Hospital, according to Aviation Pros.
Airport Property Recently Listed for Sale
Lee Airport itself has been in the news for other reasons lately. The 138-acre private and commercial facility at 13822 Union Ave NE was listed for sale in September for $1.69 million, according to Old Colony Realtors, with the listing noting two runways and an active runway lease tied to skydiving operations.
Loss of control during landing is a well-documented hazard in general aviation. Landing procedures account for nearly half of all non-commercial light aircraft crashes nationwide, according to aviation statistics compiled by Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP, while the National Transportation Safety Board has separately flagged loss of control during maneuvering and landing approach as a leading cause of fixed-wing general aviation incidents across the country.
Investigators have not yet determined what caused Saturday’s loss of control, and the FAA and NTSB reviews are expected to examine mechanical, weather, and aerodynamic factors as part of their separate probes. No further details on the investigations’ timelines were available.
