Engine failure led to plane’s crash landing into Catawba River, pilot says

CHARLOTTE — A single-engine, private plane crashed into the Catawba River after its engine failed Friday morning east of Rock Hill.

Chopper 9 Skyzoom spotted the plane sitting in shallow water just after 10:30 a.m. The plane didn’t look to be significantly damaged, but it was upside down with the wings partially submerged in the water. The wooden propeller was broken.

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By about 10:45 a.m., first responders with the York County Sheriff’s Office arrived and began searching the area for anybody who was in the plane. The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said a pilot and passenger had waded to the shore of the river before fist responders arrived and declined medical attention.

The Federal Aviation Administration told Channel 9 the plane was an Aeronca 7DC, and it crashed around 8:50 a.m.

According to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, the plane was rented, and the company that owns the plane sent a representative to the scene.

In the incident report, Lancaster County deputies said the pilot and his passenger told authorities they were both pilots and flew together often. They said they rented the plane from Aerowood Aviation in Monroe, which is the flying school the plane’s pilot attended.

The pilot said they took off from Monroe and were headed to Lancaster when the engine failed. He said the river was the safest place to land the plane and so he glided it without power onto the water.

Investigators still don’t know why the engine failed.

Lancaster County deputies said the aircraft was the only object damaged in the crash, and they said no crime had occurred.

A nearby resident said he saw one of the occupants emerge from the plane after it made the emergency landing.

“He said, ‘Yeah, I was on the plane,” Melvin Threatt said. “He said, ‘I didn’t get hurt,’ but he was wet.”

Threatt said the person told him the motor stopped before the plane went down.

Greg McElroy told Channel 9′s Tina Terry that he was inside his home in Sun City when the plane landed in the nearby river.

“I saw you guys’ chopper flying around, and I said, ‘I wonder what’s going on up there,’ and I’ve been working out here but I didn’t hear anything,” McElroy said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, according to the FAA.

Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile said he was thankful there weren’t any serious injuries, adding that the conditions along the river helped prevent a worse outcome. McElroy shared the sentiment and was grateful that no one was injured.

“To walk away from any plane crash is fantastic, you just don’t want to have anything bad happen to people like that,” McElroy said.

No easy feat

Crews remove downed plane in Catawba River Friday

Fire officials tapped into their training to get the aircraft out of the water.

“There is no exact science to flipping an airplane back over onto its wheels, so we did our best,” said Chief Chris Miller with Indian Land Fire Rescue.

They inflated some boats and put them under the wings so the aircraft could float down the river. Miller said firefighters needed to get it to a safer location before they could pull it out.

“The guys just walked it down the river,” Miller said. “The current wasn’t too strong today, so we had enough water to just be able to walk it down.”

They guided it 1,700 yards downstream before taking the wings off so it would be easier to transport once out of the river.

The plane was manufactured in 1946.