THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 12, 1995 TAG: 9508120052
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
A small plane crashed upside down in a marsh on the north end of Ocracoke Island Friday afternoon after attempting an emergency landing, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Joe Strozeski said.
At least one of the three passengers on board was injured, complaining of back problems. Medical workers transported that person to the Ocracoke Health Center. There was no immediate report on that passenger's condition.
The pilot and the other two passengers initially appeared to be unhurt, Strozeski said.
As of Friday evening, officials had not identified the type of plane, where it came from, the pilot or any of the passengers.
``Someone at another airfield heard about a plane in trouble on the civilian distress frequency on their radio. A `Mayday' call was first reported about 4:05 p.m.,'' Strozeski said.
``The call said the airplane was either 4 or 40 miles off Cape Hatteras and it had a broken windshield,'' the Coast Guard spokesman said.
``Apparently, the pilot tried to land and wound up upside down in the marsh, about 150 yards off the road.''
Coast Guard officials were attempting to remove between 40 and 50 gallons of fuel from the plane Friday night.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT PLANE INJURIES by CNB