The pilot of a light airplane was critically injured Thursday morning when he made a hard landing in a cornfield in Ookala, Hawaii County police said.
Martin Oliver, 68, of Hilo was conscious and complained of leg and back pain, police Sgt. Greg Yamada said. Oliver was the only person aboard the plane.
Fire Department personnel removed the pilot from the crumpled plane and airlifted him to North Hawaii Community Hospital, police said. Police at first said Oliver was in serious condition but later said he was in critical condition and would be flown to the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.
The hard landing happened at about 10:30 a.m. about 20 miles northwest of Hilo Airport in a field along Ookala Dairy Road, near the 30-mile marker of Hawaii Belt Road.
Police said Oliver tried to land on a newly planted cornfield after his single-engine, two-seat Savannah ADV propeller plane reportedly lost power due to engine failure.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
Yamada said the fixed-wing plane came to nearly a dead stop when it hit the soft earth of the cornfield.
"The back end crunched," he said.
The airplane, a light sport aircraft made in 2006 by Skykits USA Corp., is registered to Captain Cruise Inc. of Papaikou.
A certificate for the airplane was issued March 3, 2011, and was valid until March 31, 2014, according to the FAA Registry.
In 2009 the county Planning Department cited Oliver for allegedly operating an airfield near his sod farm at Waiohinu in Kau, county records show.
He told planning commissioners he was unaware a permit was required.
Oliver was later denied a county planning permit to operate a private, noncommercial airstrip near his sod farm.
Residents who testified against his request said the airstrip was too close to the community.
The FAA established rules in 2004 to address the rapidly growing segment of low-cost "light sport aircraft," which includes powered gliders as well as small fixed-wing aircraft.
FAA safety standards for light sport aircraft intended for recreation are less strict than for commercial aircraft such as airliners and tour helicopters.
