6 injured, 1 critically, after plane crashes at airshow in Wisconsin
Six people were injured – one critically – after a single-engine plane crashed at an airshow in Wisconsin Wednesday.
WBAY reports that the Piper Malibu PA-46 had a "hard landing" and crashed on Runway 27 of Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh at 7:45 a.m.
The airport is hosting the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture Airshow, CNN reports, a weeklong event that draws around half a million people from around the world and approximately 10,000 aircraft.
Five people aboard the plane and a firefighter responding to the crash were injured, with three male patients currently in the Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah. One is in critical condition and the other two are in fair condition, WBAY notes.
The other three, including the firefighter, were treated at Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh and are in a good condition.
The Northwestern reports that the pilot was 46-year-old Kenneth Kaminski from Michigan, with passengers including his father Gerald Kaminski, 71; as well as Margaret Laing, 30; Nathan Gargano, 26; and Neil Dill, 56.
The newspaper says four of those on the plane made it out on their own, but the fifth needed help from the firefighter, who was hurt in the process.
"Everybody pretty much wanted to know what happened," witness George Widener told CNN. "Smoke like that is never good at an airshow. I was hoping nobody got hurt, hoping everyone was OK."
According to the Associated Press, the airport was temporarily closed in the wake of the crash, with the fire in the plane causing thick black smoke to billow from the runway.
