Thanks to luck and training, a young Greenville pilot walked away from a plane crash in Wawarsing with only minor injuries on Thursday afternoon.
According to a New York State Police news release, 23-year-old Kimberly Striefler, the plane's sole occupant, was found walking in a wooded area in Cragsmoor after making a "controlled crash" of her single-engine Piper Cherokee plane. Striefler had taken off from Resnick Airport in Ellenville.
The Times Herald-Record reports that Striefler is a student pilot at Take Flight Aviation in Orange County. Rescuers at the scene gave a reporter an account of the crash:
Striefler's plane apparently went into a stall while she was trying to clear the heavily-wooded ridge, said rescue crews at the scene.
As the single-engine Piper P-28 began falling, "she was able to nestle it right into the trees," said Ulster County Chief Fire Coordinator Charles Mutz, who was one of scores of rescue workers and emergency volunteers on the scene.
Striefler was treated for minor injuries at the Ellenville Hospital.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. Responding to the scene were the New York State Police, Ulster County Sheriff's Department, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Cragsmoor Fire Department and Ellenville Fire and Rescue.
