No Injuries When Plane Overruns Runway

CHATHAM – No one was hurt when a single-engine airplane overran the runway after landing at Chatham Airport late Sunday afternoon and crashing through the airport’s perimeter fence.

 The Columbia LC41-550FG, similar to a Cessna 400, had just completed a trip from Wilmington, N.C. with four people on board when it left the pavement near the northeast end of the runway, crashing through underbrush and the fence. According to the FAA, the aircraft suffered substantial damage.

 The incident happened at around 5:20 p.m., and Chatham Fire Chief Justin Tavano said that all four people exited the private plane on their own before rescuers arrived.

 “Ambulance crews were on scene to evaluate but all occupants were uninjured and declined medical attention,” he wrote in a press statement. The police and airport staff also responded.

Airport Manager Tim Howard said there was no leakage of fuel from the plane, and the FAA and MassDOT Aeronautics investigators were on site Monday to investigate the cause.

Officials declined to release the names of those on board. The aircraft, which was manufactured in 2006, is owned by Shane Burhoe of North Truro, who has a valid private pilot license.

While the official cause remains under investigation, it appears weather may have played a factor, Tavano said.

 “FAA will complete the investigation, but [the] pilot reported a gust of wind caused him to lose control just after touching down,” he said. The aircraft ran off the end of the runway, across a couple hundred feet of grass and then into the brush and fence. It came to rest on airport property close to a hill that leads down to a cranberry bog off George Ryder Road.

At the time of the incident, the weather station at the airport registered light rain with south winds of 12 mph, gusting to 23, and nine-mile visibility. The runway was wet, Howard said.