A pilot who crashed his small plane Oct. 14while trying to land at Union County Airport suffered minor injuries in the crash, according to the Union County Sheriff's Office.
Burce Atherton, the pilot and owner of the 2018 Zenith 750 plane, was taking off westbound on the runway and was airborne for a short period of time before making a sharp right turn to return to the airport, then crashing into a small tree at around 9:52 a.m. at the Union County Airport located at 760 Clymer Road in Marysville, the sheriff's office said in a media release.
The reason why Atherton made the sharp right turn is still under investigation by the sheriff's office.
FlightAware reported Atherton's plane, which appeared from media photos to have military colorings but
is a civilian aircraft, took off at 9:46 a.m. from the airport and crashed at 9:52 a.m. during the attempt to return to the airport. his post on the Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers website indicates he purchased the aircraft already built.
The plane was on a 21-minute flight that ended at 9:41 a.m. before taking off again on a second flight that ended in the crash, FlightAware data shows.
After crashing, deputies from the sheriff's office, Marysville police, and the Marysville Division of Fire responded to the scene. The aircraft's tail was elevated in the air while the cockpit was lying on the ground against a tree, the sheriff's office said.
Atherton sustained "minor injuries" in the crash and was transported to Union County Memorial Hospital for treatment, according to the sheriff's office. Atherton is a Marysville resident and president of the Marysville chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, The Dispatch previously reported.
The Zenith 750 is a fixed-wing, single-engine plane that's built from a kit and classified as experimental by the EAA and the Federal Aviation Administration. Atherton posted on the Zenith Aircraft Builders and Flyers website that he purchased the aircraft already built.
A Zenith plane kit currently starts at just under $23,000, according to the company's website.
The crash is under investigation by the FAA and the Union County Sheriff's Office.
Dispatch reporters Bailey Gallion and Nathan Hart contributed to this report.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Marysville pilot suffered 'minor injures' after crash at Union County Airport
