Small plane crashes in Florida
October 5, 2011, 08:46 am
According to the Florida Sun Sentinel, a crop dusting plane crashed recently in St. Lucie County, not far from the landing strip out of which the plane was based. The pilot remains hospitalized, and the cause of the crash is, for the moment, unclear.
Catherine Cheney, a spokesperson for the St. Lucie County Fire District, said that crews responded to the airplane following the crash and transported the pilot to a local hospital. The plane had flipped upside down, and first responders were concerned with the amount of fuel and chemicals leaking from the fuselage, which remained largely intact. The pilot had been on his way to treat citrus groves.
Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board officials will not be able to perform an in-depth investigation until the fuel and chemicals have been cleaned properly, according to the source. The FAA stated that the single engine plane was a model 502B, built by Air Tractor, an aviation manufacturer based in Texas. It was registered in 2000 and FAA certified this past August.
While independent professional pilots like crop dusters are highly skilled and certified, the nature of the business can be risky, even for the most experienced aviator. Most normal life and property insurance products may not cover the risks unique to a life in the air, and many fliers choose to take out pilot life insurance policies to ensure they are covered in the event of an accident.
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