by: Sarah Doiron
RICHMOND, R.I. (WPRI) ─ A plane leaving Richmond Airport had to make an emergency landing Monday afternoon after suddenly losing power soon after take off, according to the Richmond Police Department.
Police said they received a call from Harvest Acres Farm on Kingston Road just before 4 p.m. reporting that a plane had crash landed on their property.
The pilot, identified by police as 70-year-old Bruce Sheets, was able to escape the crash with minor injuries.
Police said Sheets had taken off from Richmond Airport in his 1959 Forney Aircoupe Model F-1 when the plane suddenly lost power.
Sheets tried to return to the airfield, however, police said he was forced to make an emergency landing in a large field on Harvest Acres Farm.
Police said the plane’s landing gear struck several solar panels in a nearby field, which caused the plan to spin before crashing upright into a chain link fence.
The crash damaged several of the solar panels, the chain link fence and the aircraft itself.
The incident is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
