Student Pilot Survives Plane Crash
LITTLETON (CBS) - An 18-year old student pilot survived a small plane crash from 2,000 feet on Friday afternoon. First responders and the only witness to the crash were amazed the young man was not hurt.
Greg Palmer saw the plane hit the ground. "Oh my God, did this really just happen," said Palmer as he thought about what he witnessed.
He was alone on a nearby construction site. Palmer was working on the second story of an isolated home on Harwood Avenue in Littleton.
"I looked up and saw a plane flying by, at about eye level, and I thought that's a little too low," said Palmer.
He saw the plane go into the trees at the edge of the property. He called 911 and ran.
"I was running down expecting the worst, and he was walking. Shocking," said Palmer. "The plane was a wreck. It was in bad shape. I couldn't believe he was alive. The first thing he said was, he was fine, and all he had was a cut on his knee."
"I can't believe you're alive right now, and you're so young," said Palmer.
Jim Magee is a student pilot at Aptis Aviation at the Stow Minuteman Airfield. He was flying solo a single-engine Cessna plane traditionally used for training pilots.
"I could tell he was kind of panicking. He called his mom immediately, and said he was in some trouble."
At about 2,000 feet, Magee lost power. He was about 6 miles from the Stow Airfield. Magee knows the area and the large fields off Harwood Avenue (he lives down the street), so that's where he aimed. He maneuvered the plane toward the fields before crashing into the trees.
"Amazing, unbelievable," said Palmer.