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    Local News
    Wednesday, November 06, 2024

    Small plane involved in Groton-New London airport accident

    Emergency services respond to a plane that made a crash landing at Groton-New London Airport on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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    Groton ― No injuries were reported Tuesday afternoon when a small plane touched down at Groton-New London Airport without its landing gear down.

    The Poquonnock Bridge Fire Department was called to the airport at 12:15 p.m. for a report of a plane crash, Chief Jeffrey Rheaume said. Firefighters, joined by state police, arrived to find a plane on the runway without its landing gear down.

    The two people in the plane were not injured, and Rheaume said airport officials determined there was no fuel leak or other hazards related to the damaged plane.

    In a statement, the Connecticut Airport Authority said, “We can confirm that an aircraft landed safely at Groton-New London Airport after an issue in flight.”

    The airport, which was closed immediately following the incident, reopened shortly afterward.

    A spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency investigating circumstances of the incident, said the plane is a twin-engine Piper PA-34. The FAA described the incident as “gear up landing” on Runway 5.

    Public records show the plane is registered to Upgrade Incorporated of 155 Tower Ave. in Groton, which is the address of the airport. A similar plane owned by the same company, with an instructor and pilot aboard, crashed into a Groton home on Aug. 17, 2020. There were minor injuries reported in the 2020 crash.

    Airport officials said the National Transportation Safety Board was notified of Tuesday’s incident. The NTSB conducts investigations into all civil aviation accidents. NTSB spokesperson Sarah Sulick said the NTSB is looking into the incident in coordination with the FAA. The NTSB typically will start an investigation into the cause of a crash when it determines there was substantial damage to a plane. The extent of the damage in the Groton incident has not yet been determined.

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