Orange grove plane crash injures Elizabethton man
Published 10:44 pm Thursday, January 13, 2022
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FROM STAFF REPORTS
A plane crash in an orange grove near Lake Smart in Florida resulted in an Elizabethton man being hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday according to the Lakeland Ledger.
John “Jack” Hamilton, 77, of Elizabethton was taken to the hospital after he and flight instructor Landen MacFarland, 22, of Stuart, Florida were on a seaplane attempting to land on the lake when according to authorities one of the wings on the two-seat plane dipped into the water resulting in the plane catapulting up 50 feet before crashing into the orange grove.
According to the report, Winter Haven police and fire and rescue responded to the accident along with the Polk County Sheriff’s department.
MacFarland is also listed in critical condition. No one on the ground was injured.
Hamilton is a licensed pilot who was visiting the Orlando area and went to the Jack Brown Seaplane Base in Winter Haven and requested to fly with an instructor as part of a refresher course said the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the plane crash.
