Pilot taken to hospital after ultralight crashes into Burke County woods

A pilot of an ultralight is in the hospital after it crashed into the woods Monday morning.

Troopers said it happened around 9:10 a.m. in Burke County on Mountain Shadows Drive.

Witnesses told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty the ultralight appeared to have engine trouble. They said the ultralight had done some “touch-and-go” landings at a small airport nearby called Clyde Field.

“Didn’t sound right. And I looked out the window and I noticed he was sideways,” said neighbor John Suttle. “And the next thing I know is I heard just a thump.”

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The highway patrol said the ultralight had left the private airfield when it hit several trees and crash-landed in the woods. The end of the runway is only about 300 yards from the crash site.

One neighbor captured video of the crash, which shows the ultralight clipping some tree tops and then plunging to the ground in the Salem community. Several neighbors described hearing the engine sputter before it crashed behind some homes.

“It sputtered and then we heard the crash. It obviously wasn’t a gentle landing. Prayers going up, we’ve been praying,” they said.

The highway patrol said a sheriff’s deputy arrived on the scene first and cut the pilot out of the wreckage. A medical helicopter was brought in because of his injuries.

Troopers said the pilot, who has serious but not life-threatening injuries, was flown to a hospital in Asheville.

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