PILOT, PASSENGER SURVIVE PLANE WRECK
By Marcus Schneck, Staff Writer
CLARKS VALLEY — A local pilot and his passenger walked away from a plane crash here with only slight injuries Thursday afternoon.
C. Jay Seiler, the pilot, refused to discuss the accident Thursday night but did say the crash occurred as the small single-engine bi-plane was taking off from Bendigo Airport.
Tower City Ambulance attendance said the accident occurred shortly before 3:30 p.m. when the call for an ambulance was received.
The ambulance log identified Seiler’s passenger as Ernst Barder, Berlin, who is visiting Seiler. He was treated on the scene for an injury on his knee.
An ambulance attendant who responded to the accident, Dale W. Deiter, said the plane crashed on a wheat field to the west of the airport apparently nose first.
Deiter said the engine was ripped from the plane and there appeared to be some damage to the wheels.
Gene E. Bendigo, owner-operator of the small airport along Route 325, just west of the Schuylkill-Dauphin County line, said that it appeared that good piloting on the part of Seiler prevented the accident from being much worse.
The red and white double-winged airplane has been a familiar site in the skies over Porter Township and Tower City for many years. It is based at the airport along with 13 other privately owned planes.
Bendigo Airport has been in operation since 1947. According to its owner, there have been no major accidents at the airport, only small incidents over the years.
Joseph Notarian, in the Harrisburg office of the Federal Aviation Administration, which has jurisdiction over Dauphin County, said today that the accident will be investigated by his office.
He said that results of that investigation will be filed with the National Transportation Safety Board.
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Article from the Pottsville Republican, 23 July 1982, via Newspapers.com.
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