VIDEO/PHOTOS: A small plane crashed just after takeoff from the Sisters Eagle Airport late Sunday morning, but all three people aboard were able to climb out a window and escape with only minor injuries, officials and witnesses said. The plane caught fire after the crash, sparking a brush fire that crews were called out to extinguish. The crash of the single-engine Cessna Skyhawk SP occurred shortly after 11 a.m. by the airport, located on Barclay Drive north of Sisters.
โInitial reports are the plane took off and crashed shortly after,โ Jason Carr, the Deschutes County Sheriffโs Office’s public information officer, told KTVZ News. โThree people got out and were okay,โ Carr said, adding that Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District crews responded to put out the resulting fire. Carr later said in a news release that the pilot and two passengers managed to escape the plane before it became fully engulfed. They suffered minor injuries and were taken to St. Charles Bend for evaluation.
Deputies Jared Bearson and Tanor Steinbrecher were first on scene, quickly supported by Sergeant David Turkington and other sheriff’s office personnel. Deputies secured the area and assisted the injured occupants until fire crews arrived. Fire crews from the Sisters-Camp Sherman and Cloverdale fire districts responded rapidly, along with personnel from the U.S. Forest Service, Carr said, adding: “Their swift action prevented the fire from spreading to nearby trees or structures in the residential area.”
