‘Power failure’ causes small-plane crash landing at Wichita airport; no injuries

None of the three people onboard a small plane that had a crash landing shortly after takeoff Wednesday at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport were injured, the airport said on social media Wednesday afternoon.

A “Cessna 210 experienced a power failure to the engine after takeoff and landed in the grass north of the east runway,” the social media post says. The post was shared at 2:12 p.m. Airport police and firefighters responded to the incident. A picture on the post shows multiple emergency vehicles in a grassy field and what appears to be a white plane.

The control tower “reported seeing smoke coming from the engine” soon after takeoff and the “pilot then reported to be losing power,” according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. The KHP reported a 42-year-old California man was piloting the plane with the passengers being a 35-year-old Wichita man and a 40-year-old Derby man.

The Cessna 210 Centurion is a “six-seat, high-performance, retractable-gear single-engine general aviation aircraft” that was “produced from 1956-1986,” according to the Cessna Flyer Association. This particular plane was built in 1962, according to the KHP.

This story was originally published August 30, 2023 at 2:52 PM.