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Posted: 10:29 a.m. Wednesday, March 13, 2013
By Kelli Wynn
Staff Writer
Montgomery County —
The passenger in a Monday night plane crash described being “terrified” as the plane that was piloted by Doug Morgan of Middletown was going down.
Morgan, 50, and Thomas “Tom” Duncan, the passenger, were injured in the crash near interstates 75 and 675 that caused power outages in Miami Township. The Mooney M20Ecrashed around 10 p.m. in a wooded area near the interstates. The plane hit power lines during the crash.
Duncan said Wednesday that he believes God played a role in he and Morgan surviving.
“I knew we were going to crash and I was totally terrified,” said Duncan, 54, of Middletown. “The engine had quit.”
The two men were able to free themselves from the plane after Duncan escaped first from the passenger door and then helped Morgan, the plane’s owner. Duncan then took up to 30 minutes to get to the interstate, where he was able to flag down an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper.
“It was not easy for me simply because I don’t walk well anyway,” said Duncan, who has cerebral palsy. “I just had to make my way through the woods.”
Both men were taken to Kettering Medical Center to be treated. Duncan, who had a minor abrasion near his left eye, was treated and released. Morgan was listed in good condition Wednesday afternoon, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Duncan said he was told by Morgan’s family that Morgan suffered some broken ribs.
Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board and OSP’s Dayton Post are investigating how the crash occurred. However, low fuel is believed to be the main cause, according to Sgt. Jeff Kramer of the Dayton Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Duncan, a retired construction worker, said he and Morgan are friends who used to work together and that he finally took Morgan up on his offer to take a ride in his new plane. He said he had flown with Morgan before without incident.
“We were just going up to ride around. We were up for an hour and a half before the engine failed,” Duncan said. He added that they really didn’t have a destination. “He mentioned to me that we were kind of low on fuel.”
Duncan added that Morgan, who has been a pilot since July, tried to find an airport runway to land on, but couldn’t see any runway lights.
OSP officials believe the men were trying to get to the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport on Springboro Pike.
OSP Crash investigators are checking to see if alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash, which resulted in approximately 1,100 Dayton Power & Light customers losing power.
“I was absolutely not drinking,” Duncan said. “If (Morgan) was (drinking) or had been (drinking), I did not know of it.”
Kramer said Wednesday that the OSP investigation is ongoing.
“The pilot refused to give a blood sample to our investigators, however, we will subpoena the hospital records for the blood toxicology report that they have,” Kramer said. “We can take that information to the prosecutors for possible charges.”
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