Lang
7/2/23
The crash of a small plane closed a street between Cedar Rapids and Ely for about three hours Saturday morning.
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office says the incident took place just before 9am on C Street Road near its intersection with Wright Brothers Boulevard. The Burkey 540 was reportedly on its maiden voyage when it experienced a power failure. The pilot and lone occupant, 50-year-old Vijay Pisini of Cedar Rapids, was unable to return to the Eastern Iowa Airport, so he attempted an emergency landing on C Street Road after seeing there was no traffic. A street sign sheared off a wing during the landing, and Pisini was already outside of the plane and uninjured when police arrived at the scene.
Firefighters from Ely and Fairfax assisted with the cleanup, which took about three hours. There was a small fuel leak, but no fire.
The remains of the plane have been taken to a hangar at the airport for further investigation.