Pilot hurt in ultralight plane crash

The Wichita Eagle

January 26, 2008

The pilot of an ultralight aircraft escaped serious injury Saturday when it crashed in a field north of Valley Center after taking off from a private airstrip.

The Sedgwick County sheriff's office said Gary Phillips of Bentley was taken by ambulance in serious condition to Wesley Medical Center after the 2 p.m. crash.

Neil Wretberg, who owns the airstrip where the aircraft was based, said he raced to the scene of the crash after calling 911. He said Phillips appeared to be suffering from a broken leg and bruises.

'He was conscious, he was talking, he was in good spirits,' Wretberg said.

He said Phillips, 67, was a seasoned pilot who flew a Cessna out of an airport in Newton and kept the smaller aircraft at Wretberg's private strip, which was once known as the Harrison Airport.

'He been flying some 30-odd years,' Wretberg said.

Wretberg said Phillips and two other pilots took off from the airstrip at 101st North and Meridian under sunny skies with a light westerly wind.

'It's a good flying day,' he said.

He said Phillips was flying a single-engine, open-cockpit aircraft called an Airbike, which gets its name from the fact that the pilot straddles the seat like a bicyclist.

He said no one was able to figure out why the aircraft went down.

'The plane was in excellent condition, and he was an excellent pilot,' he said. 'We don't know what happened.'

Wretberg said the two pilots who took off after Phillips heard him say over the radio, 'I'm in trouble. I'm going in,' before he tried to set the aircraft down in a dirt field.

'He tried to land, but the wing hit first, which caused him to cartwheel,' he said.

The other two pilots returned to the airstrip immediately after the crash.

Sedgwick County sheriff's Sgt. Amy Tracy said the investigation into the accident was continuing, but she agreed that the wing probably clipped the ground as Phillips tried to land.

'Witnesses tell us that's a pretty accurate account,' she said.

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