"No injuries, just a lot of lost pride, hurt pride." Pilot Steven Lesher says it was just another day on the runway. He was practicing his landings at Mishawaka Pilots Club Airport with a co-pilot, but his third attempt wasn't so lucky.
"I just lost control of the ruder and I went into the snowbank and I flipped over. I was doing a wheelie landing and that should never happen to me, but it did," says Lesher.
His plane landed on it's back right next to the runway and emergency crews were there in minutes.
"Nobody was injured. They were looked at by EMS. There were no injuries, they were walking away so they signed off," says Elkhart County Lt. Travis Adamson.
Lesher is no rookie. He got his flying license in 1967, back when he was in high school.
"I've been a taildragger pilot for a long time and this is the first time for me."
He says he hit the ground going about 30 miles per hour.
"I wasn't scared, it's just one of those things that happen, we got in the snow and it started coming up, coming up and I just thought 'oh no'."
His Luscome 8F is 65 years old and Lesher says it's badly damaged. "Looking at some major money with all that. It's not cheap. It was a sweet flying airplane. I just have to do some repair work now and we'll get it back in the air."
Because he says a crash like this won't keep him on the ground for long.
"I'll be flying as soon as we get it fixed maybe sooner," says Lesher.
