On Friday morning, a small plane with a single occupant crashed shortly after take-off at the Jaffrey Airport.
At about 11:49 a.m., emergency crews responded to the airport on Turnpike Road for a report of a single adult man trapped in a plane that had crashed in a field adjacent to the runway.
The pilot and sole occupant, Ronald Jones, 75, of Brookline, was trapped inside the plane and was extricated by the fire department and emergency personnel.
According to Airport Manager and Owner Harvey Sawyer, Jones took off from the runway in a Sonex, a type of small, kit-built airplane, and almost immediately lost power. The plane came down in an open field in the area between the airfield and Kimball Farm.
“It hit hard,” Sawyer said. Sawyer said the pilot was conscious and able to speak with him right after the crash, but did sustain injuries to his head and lip.
According to police, Jones sustained substantial injury to his face and reported back pain. Jaffrey Fire Chief David Chamberlain said when emergency crews arrived, the pilot was conscious and assessed by Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance and Peterborough Ambulance. He was airlifted by helicopter to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester
Sawyer said the pilot had intended to take a short, scenic flight in the area.
The runway was reopened by early afternoon on Friday.
The incident comes less than a month after two men suffered serious injuries when a plane veered off the runway during landing and overturned at Jaffrey Airfield.
The Jaffrey Police Department, Jaffrey Fire Department, Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance, Peterborough Fire Department, Peterborough Ambulance, and UMASS Life Flight assisted at the scene.