The main runway at Martha’s Vineyard Airport was closed Saturday afternoon after a plane crashed off the runway while attempting to land.
West Tisbury Police said the 80-year-old man who was piloting the small private plane became ill while approaching the airport at 3:12 p.m. A woman who was also on the plane took over the controls and eventually landed without the gears down, police said.
The 68-year-old woman suffered minor injuries, and the man was taken by medical flight to a Boston hospital.
The Piper Meridian plane was several hundred feet from the runway, in the grass near the southwest corner of the airport grounds. It was still mostly intact.
Travelers line up to confirm their flights. — Tim Johnson
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified, but a brief interview with the Federal Register around 4 p.m. .
The FAA later confirmed that the man and woman were the only two people on board the plane and said the NTSB was leading the investigation.
The plane was visible from the nearby bike path, and several cyclists stopped to take pictures.
The incident nearly halted commercial air traffic from the island’s airport. Shortly after 5pm, while the plane was still at the airfield, JetBlue agents told the crowded terminal that large commercial flights were still suspended.
Departures boards showed flights to Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. were all delayed, with some estimated to be delayed by more than three hours.
The plane was removed from the site late Saturday evening and a major commercial runway reopened. Some departure flights have been canceled or postponed until Sunday.
