Small plane crashes near Ocean Springs Middle School shortly after takeoff
A small Piper airplane crashed shortly after takeoff Friday morning and came down on the Ocean Springs Middle School practice field, said Police Capt. Ryan LeMaire.
He said investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are on the way to determine if a mechanical failure or something else caused the crash.
The call came into dispatch at 7:38 a.m. The pilot took off from the Ocean Springs Airport, which LeMaire said is just a short distance from the middle school on Hanshaw Road.
The plane was headed for Asheville, North Carolina, and LeMaire said the pilot was the only person onboard the plane and was not injured. He was a recreational flyer, LeMaire said.
The fence at the practice field was slightly damaged, he said.
Nobody was near the field at the time of the crash, said Trey Brennan with Ocean Springs School District, other than a small crew working inside the middle school building.
If any fuel leaks from the plane onto the field, he said, it will have to be dug up. E3 Environmental is at the scene cleaning up and siphoning fuel from the aircraft.
The practice field is used by middle school football and soccer teams. Football practice wrapped up Thursday for two weeks for a July 4 holiday break, Brennan said.
Chip Claunch, 13, plays football for Ocean Springs Middle School. The 8th grader and his father went out to see the plane crash Friday morning.
“I’m glad no one got hurt,” Chip told the Sun Herald. “It’s not every day you see something like this.”
Sun Herald video journalist Hannah Ruhoff contributed to this article.
This story was originally published June 23, 2023 at 9:17 AM.
