Posted on 03/20/2009 1:02:51 PM PDT by pabianice
North of El Dorado, a Cessna SkyCatcher crashed onto private property Thursday morning. There were no injuries to the pilot.
Cessna furloughs could begin as early as April
EL DORADO - A Cessna SkyCatcher crashed Thursday onto private property north of El Dorado in Butler County.
The pilot walked away from the plane, which was upside down in a ditch, but was taken to a hospital as a precaution, said Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy. No passengers were on board.
The pilot was conducting a flight test of the two-seat SkyCatcher, which is slated to enter the market this year, said Bob Stangarone, vice president for corporate communications for Cessna Aircraft.
Stangarone said Thursday's test conditions are more extreme than typical flying conditions.
The parachute attached to the craft deployed successfully, Stangarone said.
"It operated just as it should," he said.
Another SkyCatcher crashed in September near Douglass. The pilot, who parachuted from the plane, was not injured.
That pilot was performing a spin test of the aircraft when the accident occurred. Since then, the company has increased the size of the plane's tail.
It's too soon to say whether the pilot was spin testing at the time of Thursday's crash, Stangarone said. "We really don't know that for a fact yet."
Pops always impressed that upon me after having autorotated UH-1s in 4 times in combat and having the transmission scatter at low altitude) in one stateside...
It wouldn't even of been certified for first flight if not.
All Boeing planes are certified “Experimental” until just before delivery ... there was a great tour and film on the whole process. You might want to go to Boeing.com and read the story ....
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