Parachute Aircraft Catches Power Line, Crashes On Lawn

LONDON, Ohio —One man was transported to a Columbus hospital and another was unharmed when a single, rear-mounted parachute aircraft crashed onto a lawn Monday evening.

Story courtesy of The Madison Press. Click here to read the paper’s entire story.

The craft crashed onto the lawn of a home located near 9650 Benjamin Pringle Rd. at 5:21 p.m.

The craft took off from an area just north of Benjamin Pringle Road and was gaining altitude when a slight student pilot error caused the craft to bank to the left.

After the correction was made, the craft became tangled in a power line and begin spinning to the ground, taking down three strands of the 12,000-volt line as it descended.

The student, a man in his 60s, was taken to Grant Medical Center for observation.

The instructor, Sky Stargell, walked away from the crash shaken but unharmed.

Stargell, a 37-year-veteran of aviation, said that this was the first crash he had ever experienced.

He recalled that conditions were normal at take-off from his property on Benjamin Pringle Road.

“We added power to climb, but the student pushed a little too far to the left,“ he said. “We corrected, but it was too late to abort. We just barely didn’t clear the power line 20 feet up.“

Ohio Edison reported power outage to 27 customers in the vicinity of the crash and had a repair crew on the scene within an hour.

Jefferson Township Fire Department’s rescue unit and two units from the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s West Jefferson Post responded to the crash.

NBC 4 first reported the craft was a paraglider.

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