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Bangor Pilot Crashes in N.H. Cargo Plane Hits Wal-Mart in Manchester

Posted on: Wednesday, 9 November 2005, 15:00 CST

By NOK-NOI HAUGER; OF THE NEWS STAFF

MANCHESTER, N.H. - A Bangor, Maine, pilot, flying home with a cargo of overnight delivery packages, crashed a small twin-engine plane into a Wal-Mart garden center just after takeoff Tuesday morning from Manchester Airport.

Paul Seyler-Schmidt, 32, of Bangor was bleeding from the head and had a leg injury when he pulled himself from the wreckage just after the 7:20 a.m. crash, according to eyewitness reports from the scene.

He was listed in fair condition at Elliot Hospital in Manchester on Tuesday afternoon.

"He apparently experienced mechanical difficulty during takeoff and attempted to circle back and land at the [Manchester] airport," Robin Outwater of AirNow, the Bennington, Vt.-based company that operates the plane, said Tuesday.

Seyler-Schmidt moved to Bangor from Wilmington, N.C., after he was hired by Business Airfreight, which does business as AirNow, on July 23, according to Michelle Van Ness, AirNow's executive vice president.

"He was carrying overnight delivery packages for an express delivery company" in Brewer, Maine, when his plane went down, she said. "We're very fortunate it landed where it did and that nobody on the ground was injured."

Seyler-Schmidt was delivering cargo for United Parcel Service, which has a regional office in Brewer. He has more than 10 years of experience as an aviator and, before the accident, was planning to move his wife up to the Bangor area this weekend, Van Ness said.

"I want to thank the rescue workers and everyone who has shown concern for me following the plane crash," Seyler-Schmidt said in a statement released by the hospital. "I am thankful and lucky to have survived. I am especially thankful that no one was hurt on the ground."

A spokesman at Manchester Airport said flights were uninterrupted by the early morning crash.

Jim Hill, who lives near the airport, said the plane was "trying to get back to the airport as quickly as possible, but there was definitely one engine out and it was too low."

After hitting the store's greenhouse, numerous boxes from the plane and the nearby trailers were strewn about the area, but Wal- Mart's main building wasn't damaged, local fire officials said. A Wal-Mart manager said the store would reopen Wednesday.

"I just saw a huge ball of smoke go up," said Maria Kosmakata, who was driving to her job at a nearby Saturn auto dealership when the crash occurred.

Kosmakata's co-worker Rick Osgood said he witnessed Seyler- Schmidt "walking out, a lot of blood on his head, [and he] appeared to have a broken leg" after the crash.

Van Ness said the pilot injured his ankle and was bruised but is expected to make a full recovery.

Associated Press writer Beverley Wang contributed to this report.

Source: Bangor Daily News

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