Skydiving Plane Plunges In Ellington

ELLINGTON, CT — For 12 skydivers Saturday morning, it was the perfect day to embark on the adventure of their lives at Ellington Airport.

But for the pilot who took them there, it was, literally, a fight for his own, courtesy of an angry Cessna Caravan that required an emergency landing late Saturday morning.

So while a dozen parachutists gently glided to the ground, the Cessna hopped, skipped and jumped its way past the runway, over a ditch, through a field of tall grass and into the woods.

And it was a perfect landing. The pilot was unharmed and walked away, the definition of any perfect landing in aviation circles.

"The pilot was totally fine. He was able to walk around," said Doug Hendrix, safety and training advisor for Connecticut Parachutists Inc. out of Ellington. "It could have been worse. All things considered, we're OK."

The parachuting organization uses Ellington Airport for its skydiving school, with those on the ground marveling at the perfect skydiving weather Saturday, a day of light clouds, gentle breezes and warm sunshine.

Why it wasn't so perfect for the pilot is still being investigated, though many there simply expressed relief no one was hurt.

Many observers speculated on what would have happened had the plane, somehow, came into contact with a long, deep ditch between the runway's end and the final landing spot.

What ended up being magic at 83 Somers Road, could have been tragic.

Hendrix said the skydivers experienced no problems during their jump late Saturday morning.

"Somewhere on the way down, he had an emergency landing," Hendrix said of the Cessna's pilot. "The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is here and they want to see what happened."

Hendrix said he could not speculate on what prompted the crash landing, only saying it was coming in from the north in an attempt to land toward the south side of the runway, ultimately ending up on the side of the runway near the skydiving school.

He said the school has another, smaller plane it can use for now, but the school was still trying to figure out the next steps for its students and skydiving club members.

"I can tell you that plane won't be flying for a while," Hendrix said.

State police, the FAA and the Ellington Volunteer Fire Department swarmed the area of land past the runway into the grassy field to tend to the crash.

Police officers at the scene said the investigation is ongoing and, likely, the proper authorities would have more information later, with the pilot being questioned at the site.

Meanwhile, the EVFD posted a photo and statement on the situation on its Facebook page Saturday afternoon.

"The Ellington Fire Department is on scene at the airport after a plane overshot the runway and ended up in the trees," reads the report on Facebook. "Minor damage to the plane and the pilot is uninjured."

For the Ellington Volunteer Fire Department's Facebook page, click on this link.