body of a student pilot who thrown from a small aircraft plane Found |
The man’s body was located after 8 a.m. local time, Bob Gault, a spokesman for the Bradley County Sheriff’s department, told NBC News.
The accident occurred when the owner of the Zodiac 601XL plane was taking lessons from an instructor, NBC station WRCB of Chattanooga reported, citing police. A malfunction caused the plane to nose dive and the canopy flew open – and neither man was wearing a seat belt, WRCB reported.
The accident occurred at about 2,500 feet, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
The instructor was able to land the aircraft back at Collegedale Municipal Airport, operations manager Chris Hancock confirmed to NBC News. He directed further questions to a Collegedale police spokesman who could not immediately be reached.
Plane involved in bizarre incident |
Authorities conducted a ground search in Bradley County, WRCB said. The Times Free Press said the owner-pilot had a cell phone with him and rescuers pinged it in an attempt to find him.
Neither of the men was identified publicly by authorities.