DISCOVERY BAY — The pilot and passenger of a Port Townsend Aero Museum-owned biplane were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center after the plane crashed on a beach in Discovery Bay on Sunday afternoon.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Apeland said the plane, a 1941 Stearman A75N fixed-wing single-engine aircraft, experienced engine failure above Discovery Bay and the pilot tried to land on the beach.
Names of the pilot and passenger were not available Sunday afternoon.
He said the wing struck the beach and the plane cart-wheeled before landing in shallow water.
Emergency personnel from many agencies were dispatched to the crash at about 1:36 p.m. after witnesses reported it.
Apeland said the pilot was able to get out of the plane but the passenger was trapped for 25 minutes.
“They had to cut part of the fuselage and take him through the bottom,” Apeland said.
“The top wing had collapsed.”
Apeland said the U.S. Coast Guard, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Fire District 2, Jefferson County Fire District 5, the State Patrol and state Fish and Wildlife responded.
The state Department of Ecology and the National Transportation Safety Board were advised of the wreck.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at [email protected].
