Cessna SkyCatcher Prototype Crash

AVWEB just reported:

SKYCATCHER PROTOTYPE CRASHES

Federal investigators are on their way to Douglass, Kansas to
investigate the crash of a Cessna Skycatcher LSA prototype Thursday.
The pilot of the test aircraft was able to parachute to safety and was
reportedly taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Cessna media relations personnel were unable to immediately respond to
AVweb's request for more detailed information, but KAKE Television is
reporting the aircraft crashed into a treeline near the boundary of
Butler and Cowley Counties. The television station is quoting
witnesses as saying they heard a loud pop and then saw sparks and the
plane spiraling down. The pilot landed in a field about 400 yards from
the aircraft. The TV station quoted a Cessna spokesman as saying the
crash aircraft had about 150 hours on it.

The prototype first flew on March 8, and Cessna is planning on
delivering the first customer aircraft in the first half of 2009. What
the crash does to that schedule is unclear. There are close to 1,000
orders for the aircraft, which will be built in China and reassembled
in three plants in the U.S.
Watch AVweb.com for more news on the Skycatcher crash.

Watch AVweb.com for more news on the Skycatcher crash.