Crash Landing at Airport
By John Dickey and Doug Mattson The Union - Saturday, July 8, 2000
A wintage WWII Advance AT6 plane sits off the runway at the Nevada County Airport Friday afternoon. The plane, piloted by Melvin Quaid of Monterey, crash landed when wind reportedly blew it off the landing strip. (Photo by John Hart)
A 71-year-old Monterey woman and her husband escaped serious injury after their World War II-vintage plane crashed Friday at Nevada County Airport.
Margaret Quaid, a passenger in the plane, went by ambulance to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released, a nursing supervisor said.
Her husband, Melvin Quaid, also 71, was about to land the 1943 single-engine Navy training plane just after 3 p.m. But the aircraft was blown off the landing strip by an air gust, and the landing gear snagged on soft ground, according to Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Schmidt.
The crash damaged the landing gear and propeller, and Margaret Quaid suffered pain to her neck from her safety belt, Schmidt said.
Melvin Quaid walked away from the crash and did not seek medical treatment.
A witness who saw the crash said the plane tried to pull out of a landing attempt.
Arnie Luters of Grass Valley said he watched the restored plane veer off the right side of the runway.
The pilot gave the plane power to try and abort the landing, according to Luters. But then the man cut the engines.
"He realized he wasn't going to stay airborne," said Luters, who has a plane at the airport. "He cut the power, stayed where he is."
The plane had touched down and was most of the way down the runway when the crash occurred.
Other aircraft arriving for this weekend's Nevada County AirFest 2000 were diverted to airports in Lincoln and Auburn until the airport was reopened at 5 p.m.
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