HURRICANE — A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake airplane Thursday while attempting takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport located at 800 W. 2300 South.
Arthur Granger, of Hurricane City, was taking off for his fourth flight in his blue and yellow, fixed-wing, single-engine airplane at approximately 4:09 p.m.
“I decided to go out,” Granger said, “and get a little more experience with my newly-purchased airplane – it’s a homebuilt – a nice little airplane.”
Granger said he had decided to try to do a “main-wheel takeoff” – lifting the tailwheel.
“Normally, in a tailwheel airplane like this,” Granger said, “you would take off in three-point attitude – that means the two main gear down and the tailwheel down. In a little larger-tail airplane, you want to lift the tail up a little bit first to allow the airplane to pick up speed a little faster.”
“When you do that, though, the propeller has a tendency to make the plane turn left, fast,” he added, “and, if you’re not ready for it – to put in opposite controls – it can get away from you.”
Granger said he wasn’t ready for the plane to veer left and he couldn’t correct for it, resulting in his 612-pound plane crashing and coming to rest approximately 50 yards off the runway.
Officers and medical personnel were dispatched to the scene after receiving a report of the plane crash, Hurricane City Police Sgt. Brandon Buell said.
Granger, who was the only occupant in the plane, was not injured.
“The pilot is very experienced and this helped avoid anything more major,” Buell said of Granger, who has been flying off and on for about 30 years.
As a result of the crash, the wooden propeller broke off the plane and the airplane sustained damage to its right wing, nose and two main landing gear.
“The good news is, of course, the airplane is repairable,” Granger said, “I’m fine, nobody got hurt and, you know, a little embarrassed to wreck my new toy.”
Per protocol, the Federal Aviation Administration was notified and will investigate the crash, Buell said, adding that police were grateful it was a minor crash and no one was hurt.
“I was just practicing,” Granger said. “So, now, I’m going to have to put (the plane) back together and practice some more.”
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A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
A pilot crashed his recently-purchased 2006 Buddy Baby Lake fixed-wing, single-engine airplane while attempting a “main-wheel takeoff” takeoff at the Hurricane City Airport, 800 W. 2300 South, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 10, 2016 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News
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Oh my golly gee whiz this is terrible ! I hope none of the endangered desert tortoise were hurt in anyway. this should bring in RealLowlife with another one of his. ( he hate me ) comments ! LOL ! ha ha ha ha now that’s some funny stuff right there. !
Walking away from any airplane accident is always good.