A small twin engine plane crashed in a soybean field this afternoon during a training flight at Wood County Regional Airport.
Bowling Green Fire Capt. Nathan Espinoza said there were two people in the plane – a Bowling Green State University aviation student and an instructor. One was transported by EMS to Wood County Hospital with minor injuries. The other person declined treatment.
The plane suffered heavy damage, breaking off a wing and creating a small fuel leak which the firefighters stopped, Espinoza said.
The crash took place on the east side of North College Drive, about half a mile north of the recycling center. BG Fire Division received the call at 12:37 p.m., with firefighters on the scene at 12:39 p.m.
A BGSU spokesperson emphasized that the landing was not a crash. A BGSU student, described as nearing graduation, was reportedly being evaluated for a commercial pilot license. The evaluation required landing an aircraft during a simulated engine failure.
During this simulation, the FAA examiner took over the aircraft, landing the plane in a field adjacent to the airport, according to the BGSU spokesperson.
However, a preliminary investigation by the Bowling Green Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol classified the incident as a “crash.”
The preliminary investigation revealed that the Piper Seminole attempted to land to the west, on Runway 28, where the left-seat pilot, Ulrich Marlon Tchiedje Ngaleumo, 23, Pickerington, aborted the landing and attempted to do a go-around procedure.
The right-seat pilot, Joel Borton, 34, Perrysburg, then took control of the twin-engine plane and made a forced landing in the bean field approximately one-quarter mile northwest of the departure end of the runway.
Ngaleumo sustained minor injuries and was transported to the Wood County Hospital. Borton was not injured. The Piper sustained heavy damage.
