A small plane crash near Lake Thunderhead on Wednesday afternoon had a surprisingly good outcome — the pilot walked away with only a few cuts.
It happened around 2:30 p.m. at the Unionville Municipal Airport. The pilot, 49-year-old Cody Veach from Corydon, Iowa, was trying to land his single-engine aircraft when things didn’t go as planned. He says the plane bounced during his first landing attempt, so he pulled up and circled around to try again.
That’s when trouble hit. As he came back in, strong winds from Lake Thunderhead seem to have pushed the plane off course, causing it to crash into trees near the airport.
Despite the rough landing, Veach was able to get out on his own and is expected to be just fine. He was the only person onboard.
The flight began in Mt. Vernon, Missouri, and was headed to Unionville. Emergency crews responded quickly and were warned to stay clear of the wreckage because the aircraft has a ballistic parachute system onboard — a safety feature located in the tail of the plane.
Federal aviation officials will be on-site to investigate what led to the crash.
As a precaution, the City of Unionville has temporarily closed the airport until further notice.
courtesy KTVO
