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A motorized glider crashed Sunday morning near the Waimea-Kohala Airport, injuring its 80-year-old pilot, the Hawaii County Fire Department said.
The pilot complained of chest pain caused by the impact with the glider’s harness, when rescue crews arrived at about 10:20 a.m. He went to a local hospital in stable condition.
The glider crashed in a pasture about 150 yards southeast of the airport’s runway.
The Fire Department said the pilot got into trouble while gliding in for a landing in his carbon fiber ASH-25 Mi motorized glider.
The pilot told firefighters that he tried to start the engine in an attempt to make it to the runway, but the engine wouldn’t start, so he was forced to land in the pasture.
The glider, worth about $250,000, sustained moderate damage to tail assembly fuselage, landing gear and wing sections, officials said.
