No one injured when plane goes off runway in Smithfield

By Ana Bottary

abottary@abc6.com

@anabottary

SMITHFIELD- A scary scene for drivers on Jenckes Hill rd in Smithfield Thursday, getting a clear view of a privately owned jet plane titled sideways on after going off the runway Thursday morning.

The plane which was coming in from Pennsylvania, left the runway after an attempt to land at north central state airport in Smithfield.

"For whatever reason the aircraft departed the runway at the end of run way 5 here at central. Some substantial damage to the aircraft. EMS was on scene, the fire department, police were here immediately," Says Jim Warcup, Rhode Island Aviation Inspector.

Despite the damage to the plane, amazingly all 6 passengers, including the pilot, were unharmed. They had come to Rhode Island for a business conference, and still went after the accident.

Warcup says mishaps like this are not common, but do happen.

"In Rhode Island we average 11 mishaps a year, we average about five where they rise to the level of this incident, this year we’ve been lucky we are only at 6," he says.

Warcup says the person who was operating the plane is also the owner, and an experienced pilot. Officials are now looking into the circumstances surrounding the mishap, taking into account the wind and fog on Thursday.

"Just generically we look at weather conditions, we look at the air crafts maintenance records etcetera."

The plane is currently at the end of runway 5, were told that runway will be shut down until the plane is released to aviation officials.

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