A Grants Pass man is being treated for injuries after crashing his small plane at the Brookings Airport at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Robert Earl Stonebrook, 78, was landing his plane at the south end of the runway and it made contact with the ground when he veered off to the right, and his plane took a nosedive into the nearby ravine. He was alone in the plane.
Stonebrook, who has a second home in Brookings, walked away from the plane, a 1965 Champion Citabria 7ECA, but then asked to be transported to Sutter Coast Hospital. The extent of his injuries are currently unknown, but according to Brookings Police, he was transported from the Crescent City hospital to another hospital for further care around 1:30 p.m. Attempts to contact Stonebrook were unsuccessful.
Several Brookings Police officers and Brookings Fire Department volunteers arrived at the scene shortly after the crash, assisting the pilot, assessing the damage and trying to suppress the fire danger from the plane, which was leaking fuel into the brush where it crashed.
“We don’t know right now what happened with the plane,” said Sgt. Terry Murray about an hour after the crash. “Whether it was mechanical or a pilot error, we’re still investigating right now.”