Fort Collins – Two men walked away from a crash of a single-engine plane near the city’s airport Tuesday, a month after a similar accident ended in a fatality.
Brett Williamson, 47, and Delbert Dean Bishop, 52, both of Dexter, Mo., were taking off from the Fort Collins Downtown Airport when their plane lost power.
The aircraft, a 1965 Citabria, went down near the intersection of East Mulberry Street and South Timberline Road about 10:15 a.m. The two men had just bought the plane and were heading back to Missouri.
“The impact wasn’t bad at all, it was just in slow motion,” said Bishop. “It was like being in a car wreck.”
Both men crawled out of the airplane after Williamson kicked out a windshield.
The plane just missed taking out overhead power lines in the area as well as diving into a pond at a nearby construction company, authorities said.
The airplane’s right wing was sheared off after it hit a power line and a tree. It ended up on its right side with its left wing sticking up.
Last month, the pilot of a twin-engine Beech Baron died when his airplane crashed into a business 2 miles northeast of Fort Collins.
The pilot was 72-year-old Claire McMillen, an owner of the airport and other nearby properties.
Three men died in July when the Beach 58 Baron they were aboard spun out and crashed in the English Ranch subdivision of Fort Collins.
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
