Plane makes emergency landing in Burgaw back yard

Just after 1:00 p.m. Thursday, a single engine plane went down in a family’s backyard off John Humphrey Road near Stag Air Park in Burgaw.

Witnesses say it looked like the small plane was trying to land at the air park, when it went down in a nearby backyard.

Charles Tice said he was eating lunch when he saw, and heard, something unexpected.

“He came over our hedge and it sounded like he hit some of the taller trees with his tail and next thing we heard was a big bang,” Tice said.

Witnesses said they heard the plane circling overhead, before they heard the engine stall.

Glenn Moore of Burgaw was at the controls. Moore is a mechanical engineer who builds his own planes. He is listed with the FAA as the manufacturer of this plane.

Paramedics arrived at the scene within minutes to find Moore going in and out of consciousness.

“We came out and we saw him, saw where the plane was and we just couldn’t believe it. It’s just one of those things that you just don’t think about,” Tice added.

The Federal Aviation Administration is now looking into what caused the crash.

One of Moore’s pilot friends, Andy Mayes, was at the scene. He said by the looks of the plane on the ground, Moore did the right thing in an emergency. “We are trained to control the aircraft to the very last second, and it looks like that’s exactly what he did.”

Mayes said Moore was an experienced pilot, who lives near Stag Air Park.