NEWS

Report: Plane flips over in DeLeon Springs field in emergency landing

Patricio G. Balona
patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
Volusia County Fire Department personnel keep watch Sunday afternoon, Sept. 23, 2018, on a single-engine aircraft that flipped over on Johnson Lake Road in DeLeon Springs. [News-Journal/Nigel Cook]

A single engine airplane flipped over in a field in DeLeon Springs Sunday afternoon while trying to make an emergency landing after an engine malfunction, officials said.

Volusia County Fire Services Battalion Chief Nick Castelli said two people were in the aircraft and only suffered minor injuries.

According to sheriff's spokesman Andrew Gant, deputies were called to 5660 Johnson Lake Road around 3:27 p.m. reference an aircraft crash.

When deputies arrived on scene, they made contact with the pilot, Herbert Weens, 79, of Holly Hill, and his passenger, Kenneth Brownell, 88, of Lake Helen.

[READ MORE: Plane crashed near Port Orange, burst into flames after landing gear broke, official said]

Weens said that while in flight, an engine malfunction forced them to land the aircraft in a field on Johnson Lake Road. Weens said he misjudged the slope of the ground, causing the front tire to touch ground, damaging it on impact and flipping the airplane, Gant said.

Bystanders said the flight was a present for Brownell, who will be celebrating his 89th birthday on Oct. 3.

Weens and Brownell suffered minor injuries and were transported by EVAC ambulance to Florida Hospital Deland.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the airplane accident, Gant said.

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