A pilot walked away with a minor cut after his airplane crashed Sunday morning northwest of the Houston Memorial Airport, authorities said.
At about 10 a.m., the pilot, Joseph C. Everhart of Yukon, walked up to Westwood Drive in Houston, Mo., to report he was uninjured. He had a minor scratch on the side of his head. That was after he called a Yukon-area neighbor to report he had crashed, was okay, but didn’t know where he was.
A search was already underway after a resident witnessed the 1951 aircraft go down just outside the city limits.
Everhart said he was flying circles around the city-owned airport when he experienced engine trouble. He told the resident he had flown to the Rolla area before returning in the airplane that is a military replica. First responders on the scene said Everhart told them he had looked for a place to land that would clip the wings and leave the plane in trees without a notable crash.
The aircraft had extensive damage and was in a densely wooded area. The area was cordoned off before the arrival of the Federal Aviation Administration, which will investigate. The FAA said Monday that Everhart had been performing “touch and go” landings at the nearby 3,000 foot-long strip.
On the scene were members of the Houston Fire Department, Houston Police Department, Texas County Sheriff’s Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol. An ambulance was called to the area, but was not needed.
March 1987 — The aircraft crash at the Houston Memorial Airport was the first in 32 years. Two persons were uninjured when their airplane overextended the runway. Among the two occupants was a local resident, Dr. David Dale.
Recent fatal crashes
March 1999 — A Ukrainian woman is fatally injured when an aircraft crashes along U.S. 63 north of Cabool.
June 2015 — Four members of a Utah family are killed in the worst air tragedy to hit Texas County since 1971.
October 2016 — Vernon A. Raber, 78, of Mountain Grove, dies from injuries sustained in a crash on Clinton Drive.
March 2019 — A Springfield man, Robert F. Torp, 64, dies in a crash near Summersville.