Palm Springs Air Museum - Biplane Crash

[Zip-in-Z]

Lots of coverage on the local news, seen this plane many times flying around here, I understand they rent out the second seat for a couple hundread bucks for a short sight seeing flight around the valley, was thinking of doing this next Saturday, now re-thinking it.

Z-z

File pic ...




Cut & Paste ... Two people were injured after an airplane crashed during an "aborted takeoff" at the Palm Springs International Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

Just before 1 p.m., the biplane reached 200 feet before it lost power and returned to the runway, said Fred Bell, managing director of the Palm Springs Air Museum, which owns the airplane. The plane landed and skidded off the runway with two men on board.

"It doesn't appear anyone was seriously injured," Bell said.

The Palm Springs Fire Department confirmed that two people were taken to Desert Regional Medical Center.

The pilot was released from the hospital, museum spokeswoman Ann Greer said Thursday afternoon. The passenger's status wasn't immediately available.

Airport Executive Director Tom Nolan said the airport shut down for about 50 minutes while the scene was cleared. He estimated about six flights - arriving and departing - were delayed during that period.

Officials used a flatbed truck to remove the biplane from the runway at about 2 p.m. and regular airport traffic resumed.

Nolan referred other questions to museum officials.

The single-engine plane is a 1940s-era Stearman, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

It was donated to the museum in January 2010 by Indian Wells residents Wayne and Laura Hoffman, according to Desert Sun archives. The plane was often seen flying from the airport and circling the area.

The FAA has been notified and the plane has been stored in a hangar pending an investigation, Bell said.

It's the third incident since October involving an airplane that departed from the Palm Springs airport.


Link ... http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/...ding/81232448/