Collegiate Times

Two men flying aboard a plane departing from the Virginia Tech/Montgomery Executive Airport were injured Thursday, July 27 when the plane crashed into a field just after take-off.

Authorities identified the pilot as Lin Wadsworth, 58, of Westmoreland, Va. and his passenger as William Jennings Ball, 81, of Tappahannock, Va.

Both men were taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital, with Wadsworth suffering more serious injuries than Ball, officials reported.

According to authorities, the two men had just dropped off Ball?s son at the airport and boarded a single-engine Piper Lancer. Ball?s son apparently witnessed the crash.

Once in flight, the plane apparently did not have enough power, requiring the pilot to attempt an unplanned landing. After an effort by the pilot to circle and land safely, the plane came down on an airport taxiway before crashing into a field near Hubbard Street.

After bumping across part of the grassy field, the plane collided into a line of trees at the bottom of a hill, breaking off the plane?s left wing and smashing the nose.

The crash occurred at about 3:50 p.m.

According to Michael St. Jean, the director of Virginia Tech/Montgomery Executive Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were contacted about the crash and began an investigation the following day. He said he was unable to comment on the incident until the report was completed.

Suzanne Barnette, the director of marketing and public relations for the Montgomery Regional Hospital verified that the two men were released from the hospital Friday.

Last Thursday?s incident wasn?t the first accident involving a private aircraft in Blacksburg. In 2003, the pilot of a single-engine Beechcraft landed in a Virginia Tech dairy pasture after the plane?s engine lost power a mile from the airport. No one was injured in that incident.

The Virginia Tech/Montgomery County Executive Airport is owned and operated by Virginia Tech. Originally, when the airport opened in 1931, it existed as a flight training facility for cadets.

Today the airport serves the surrounding community and corporate jets, with over 30 private and corporate aircraft using the airport on a regular basis.