A Naval Academy midshipman was flown to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore after crashing a plane Thursday.
The midshipman, whose name was not released due to privacy concerns, was piloting a Trident Air single-engine aircraft when he crashed in a field near Easton Airport in Easton, Maryland, according to a release from the Naval Academy. The midshipman sustained non-life-threatening injuries to his lower extremities, said Sgt. K. Phillips with the Maryland State Police’s Easton Barrack.
The midshipman was flying the plane as part of the academy’s Powered Flight Program, which gives midshipmen interested in a career as naval aviators the ability to learn to fly before attending the Naval Flight School, according to the release. Midshipmen undergo intensive training and instructor-led flight before they can fly solo, if they qualify.
There was no one else in the plane.
It is unclear what caused the midshipman to crash. The plane became engulfed in flames after the midshipman was removed, Phillips said. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is on the scene investigating, Maryland State Police and local firefighters responded to the crash.
This is the fifth aviation mishap for the U.S. Navy this year, according to the Naval Safety Center statistics, which had not been updated to include the crash.
The news of the crash comes a day after the academy announced the death of Midshipman 1st Class Michael Myles James, who passed while on leave.
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