Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411140111
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Anne K. Miller, 44, a resident of the Goode's Landing subdivision off Virginia 706, was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, where she was listed in critical but stable condition with facial cuts and bruises and possible internal bleeding and fractures.
The plane, an Alon Aircoupe, also known as an Ercoupe, lost power shortly after 1:15 p.m. when Miller took off. She tried to crash-land in a field but lost control, and the plane dived into a deep bank of underbrush near the Big Otter River.
"We was riding around and watched her take off," said Clarence Comer, a Goode resident. "She waved at us and then it sounded like her engine died. It sputtered a little and she made a left turn and then the plane went down.
"She sailed in until she hit the bushes and then it just went nose first. I heard a crash and that was all."
Rescue workers worked for more than an hour cutting Miller away from the wreckage of the plane. The white-and-orange aircraft, which was built in 1969, landed with its cockpit pressed flat against the ground.
``We treated her in the plane while the other people were trying to extricate her. She was beginning to lose consciousness when she was released from the plane,'' said Todd Stone of the Bedford Volunteer Fire Department.
Its tail stood upright after the crash, squeezed and twisted by trees.
Shattered pieces of green glass from the cockpit were scattered on the ground near Miller's black leather pilot's seat, which rescuers had torn from the plane.
State Trooper T.C. Chattin said the crash's cause had not been determined. The Federal Aviation Administration was expected to start its investigation today.
by CNB