ZEELAND TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – A 56-year-old Zeeland Township man apparently escaped injury after what authorities are calling a “single engine minor plane crash” at Ottawa Executive Airport on Sunday afternoon.
According to Ottawa County Sheriff’s Sergeant Brian Buter, first responders were dispatched to the airstrip off of Byron Road east of Zeeland just before 1 PM on a report of a plane that was circling overhead, unable to land due to front landing gear not responding. “After all the emergency staff were in place and the area was secure, the plane did land,” Buter said in a statement issued by his department. “It touched down on its functional rear landing gear and the pilot kept the nose of the plane up as long as he could before the front end touched down. At the time the front end touched down, the plane stayed on its same course and stopped a short distance later.”
The craft, a 1990 Glass Air single prop plane, had some minor, moderate damage to its nose area. The unnamed pilot was apparently unhurt and refused any medical treatment offered at the scene.
Buter added that the Federal Aviation Administration is working with the Sheriff’s Office in investigating the incident.
