CHANUTE — A pilot and his passenger escaped serious injury Thursday afternoon after their airplane crashed in a field about 2 miles north of Chanute near U.S. 169.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported John Von Fange of South Carolina was flying a 2020 SR 22 Turbo aircraft when the plane lost its engine functions southwest of Chanute.
Von Lange attempted to land the plane at Chanute’s Martin Johnson Airport, but could not line up for a proper approach due to cloud cover.
He instead attempted to land in a field northeast of town.
The airplane went into a nose dive east of U.S. 169, about one-half mile north of Cherry Street, as Van Forge deployed a Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS).
The airplane landed upside-down in a field about 100 yards east of the highway. The prevailing winds, however, kept the parachute inflated, which then served as a powerful mechanism to drag the aircraft toward the highway.
A passing motorist saw the commotion, and drove through a fence into the field hoping to stop the airplane with his pickup.
The aircraft, however, was too much to stop. Now flipped back onto its wheels the plane slid over the highway, and crashed into a tree in the west ditch. The parachute finally deflated.
Van Forge, 43, and passenger Tuck Duck, 35, Kannapolis, N.C., were taken to Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute for suspected minor injuries.
Federal Aviation Administration personnel were due to arrive Friday to investigate the accident.
