CBS 19 - The Eye of East Texas News - UPDATE: Plano man injured in Wood County plane crash

UPDATE: Plano man injured in Wood County plane crash

by Michele Reese

MINEOLA (KYTX) - A plane crash in Wood County has left one Plano man in the hospital.

The crash happened this morning, just before 5:00 am near the Wood County Airport in Mineola. CBS 19's Michele Reese has been following the story.

According to flightaware.com, the pilot left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at 7:45 PM last night. He then stopped in Alabama and was heading to Plano when he tried to stop in Mineola, but didn't make it.

It was dark at about 4:45 am as Michael Thern, 36, approached the Wood County Airport, but his Piper Archer plane didn't make it to the runway, clipping trees as it went down. The plane crashed 3,000 feet from the runway, and local pilots speculate the engine failed, causing the plane to go down.

"The reason I would guess that the engine wasn't working is because if he clipped the tree it would have thrown him in adverse, and he would have hit the power on and picked up speed and ended at the runway," said veteran pilot Vince Colvin.

Colvin says the trees may have prevented Thern from gliding to the runway. "It slows you down abruptly, and you drop like rocks."

"He did clip the trees and it crash landed here and he did spin." Wood County Emergency Management director Randy Selean says despite the crash landing, the pilot was alert. "They had to extricate the pilot from the plane and he was flown to ETMC Tyler by helicopter...He's got broken ankles and leg bones and some lacerations but none of those injuries are life threatening," said Selean.

As Thern recovers in the hospital, the FAA is on the scene looking over the plane to find out what happened. While there is still no official cause, most experts say engine failure is likely the cause, because after the crash the propellers were pointing straight out. Experienced pilots we spoke with this afternoon say they believe the plane may have run out of fuel, but of course we have to wait on the official cause from the FAA.