The pilot of an airplane landing at South Bend Regional Airport was injured Monday afternoon when the plane flipped over and landed off the runway.
Airport director John Schalliol said the pilot was traveling from the Chicago Executive Airport in Illinois in a single-engine, low-wing Cirrus aircraft. The unidentified man attempted the unsuccessful landing in South Bend around 12:15 p.m.
A witness told authorities that the plane was coming in on the east-west runway when what appeared to be a gust of wind flipped it over.
The pilot had traveled about one-fourth of the runway distance when he was knocked off the south side about 250 feet before coming to rest.
The plane did not catch fire, but emergency crews applied foam as a precaution. They also found the pilot trapped in the cockpit, Schalliol said.
"By the time the foam was applied, our guys were trying to extract him," he said. The pilot extrication took about 10 minutes.
The man was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital, with no immediate word on his condition.
The accident remains under investigation. Stay with Fox28 for the latest updates and details on this developing story.
