UPDATED FOR PRINT EDITION — An Atlanta couple was injured Oct. 5 when their single-engine plane crash landed on a practice field at Starr’s Mill High School in southwest Fayette County.
Sheriff Barry Babb said the occupants of the single-engine, turboprop aircraft were 66-year-old pilot Shelby McCaleb and his wife, 57-year-old Cynthia McCaleb.
Babb said both were conscious and alert and assisted responders extracting them from the damaged aircraft. Shelby McCaleb was transported by ambulance to Piedmont Fayette Hospital while Cynthia McCaleb was transported by ambulance to Atlanta Medical Center.
The couple had departed DeKalb-Peachtree Airport on route to Pine Mountain, said Babb, adding that the pilot reported a loss of oil pressure and radioed the problem. He was instructed to set down at Falcon Field, said Babb.
The plane crash landed onto an unused practice field at Starr’s Mill High School at approximately 1 p.m., roughly two miles from Falcon Field. Area residents and some of those practicing at other school ballfields responded.
One of those, Brooks resident and adult baseball league coach Greg Woodward, said the plane was seen approaching from the south.
“Everything seemed okay. The engine was running but (the plane) was low. It caught the top of the trees (adjacent to the practice field),” Woodward said, adding that the plane hit the ground and bounced then soon came to a stop.
Woodward and others responded, finding a man and woman inside the plane who were conscious but bleeding. Citizen responders removed the two from the plane and they were soon transported to area hospitals.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash landing, Babb said.
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