Jet skids off runway; wings separate, catch fire

A commuter jet skidded off the runway of Spencer J Hardy Airport in Howell Township Monday, swerving before losing its wings, which “exploded,” a witness said.

The pilot, identified by police as a 60-year-old Batavia, New York, man, was taken by Livingston County EMS paramedics to the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor for non-life threatening injuries.

“I’m so grateful he wasn’t hurt more,” witness Paige Engerer said about the pilot.

Engerer was traveling east on M-59 shortly before noon when she noticed what she thought was “the outline of a plane.” She slowed and watched as the Textron 525C commuter jet attempted to land at the airport.

Sheriff Michael Murphy said the pilot “lost control” and the jet “continued through the airport fence, across Tooley Road” where it struck some small trees.

Murphy said that, after striking the trees, the wings separated from the fuselage and caught fire while the fuselage continued a short distance before overturning and coming to rest.

Engerer said the jet was “swerving” as it moved across Tooley Road.

“One of the wings came off and ended up exploding,” Engerer said. “I didn’t know where it would end up, so I started to stop and get over. It barrel rolled and slid up into the bushes.”

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Engerer said she and other witnesses were concerned the second engine would also explode, and men carrying fire extinguishers slowly approached the aircraft.

One man kept shouting, “Is anybody in there?” Witnesses continued to inch closer, and one of the men then noticed the pilot waving his hands, Engerer said.

The men opened the door while asking the pilot if he was OK and had any injuries. When the pilot indicated that he had no broken bones, three men helped extricate the pilot, who told his rescuers that he was in from New York and “had no warning of ice this way,” Engerer said.

“He was landing and slid right off the runway. That was super crazy. He walked away,” she said.

The Howell Area Fire Department also assisted at the scene.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Contact Livingston Daily justice reporter Lisa Roose-Church at 517-552-2846 or lrchurch@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @LisaRooseChurch.