Emergency responders extricated a 73-year-old pilot from a plane after it made a crash landing following a loss of power near Grand Mound just before noon Tuesday.
The pilot — the only occupant of the plane — is alive but injured. He is being airlifted from Rochester High School to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The plane is a Cessna 170DB. Lanette Dyer, of the West Thurston Fire Authority, said it was built in the 1950s.
The crash occurred in a field near 216th Avenue at the intersection of Oregon Trail Road off of Old Highway 99.
The pilot told emergency responders he has been flying since he was 18 years old.
His injuries are described as “lots of body pain and discomfort.”
The man is conscious and answering questions from medics.
He was flying from Spanaway to the Chehalis-Centralia Airport when the crash occurred.
The Federal Aviation administration will not be responding because it's a single-engine plane with single passenger and there were no fatalities, according to Capt. Greg Elwinof the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.
Bill Fortman, who owns property near where the crash occurred, said he was getting coffee when he saw the plane in the field, though he didn't hear it crash. He called 911.
The Chronicle will post more information as it becomes available.
