MULBERRY, Fla. — Emergency crews responded Tuesday morning to a plane that suffered a hard landing, injuring two people.
It happened around 8:00 a.m. in the area of State Road 60 and Coronet Road, not far from South Lakeland Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration reports the plane was a light sport Delta Jet-II.
A Polk County Sheriff's Office spokesperson confirmed the pilot, 71-year-old
Charles McLochlin of Lake Placid, was conducting "touch and go" landings on
the grassy runway parallel to the road when the plane's front wheel collapsed during the fourth landing. This caused the nose of the plane to collide with the ground, and then rotate and come to a stop in a ditch.
McLochlin and his passenger, 68-year-old Michael Hano of Lakeland, were
transported to a local hospital with minor injuries, according to the sheriff's office.
No other injuries have been reported.
