If you miss the last regularly scheduled SOSA flight to Utila (3:00p.m.) you can often charter a small single engine plane. The brother of our volunteer clinic administrator along with a friend of his did just that. During the approach the two passengers had the impression that the Rollins charter pilot had not landed on Utila before. He seemed nervous, circling the island once before setting down. Ours is not a forgiving runway but the regular SOSA pilots know where the worst ruts are. (Thankfully the runway was graded just days later; see Airport Improvement.) The single engine three passenger plane set down alright but then veered off the runway. Pilot and both passengers fled the plane quickly as fuel was escaping from the wing.
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The plane crashed in the late afternoon on Friday, November 26. I took this picture the next day. The prop was severely bent, the landing gear had collapsed and the right wing had suffered damage. |
| The motor and some other parts were salvaged almost immediately. I'm
told the rest will be picked up later. (No doubt the plane had to moved
for the regrading project. It also doesn't look too good for tourists
to see a crashed plane next to the runway, though I'm told a DC-3 sat
out there for years!)
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