Plane lands upside down at Sisters Airport; passenger injured

Published 12:00 am Thursday, April 11, 2019

A single-engine airplane flipped over after having to land on a dirt strip parallel to the runway at Sisters Eagle Airport on Wednesday morning, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.

The pilot, identified as Brian Lansburgh, 73, of Sisters, was attempting to land at 10:43 a.m., but hit a cross wind and ended up landing off the runway, which caused the plane to flip on its top, said Sgt. William Bailey, sheriff’s spokesman. Also on board was passenger John Watson, 88, of Bend.

Lansburgh and Watson were able to get out of the plane on their own and suffered minor injuries.

The single-engine Piper PA12, which was built in 1946, is registered to Tailwheel Productions LLC in Sisters, according to a Federal Aviation Administration database.

Lansburgh is the founder of The Tailwheeler’s Journal and a flight instructor who produces flying videos, according to the company website. It states he was former manager of Sunriver Soaring and ran the Sunriver Airport for a while.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board have been notified and are investigating the crash.

Wind appears to be the only factor in the crash, according to sheriff’s Sgt. K. Dizney.

“Deputies determined the pilot, Brian Lansburgh, was attempting to land the plane in gusty winds using the adjacent dirt along the runway to assist him in making the landing,” Dizney said in a press release. “As the airplane touched down and began to slow, winds began to gust again and caused the plane to flip over onto its top.”

Also Wednesday, a flight from San Francisco arriving at Redmond Airport blew four tires on its main landing gear, said Zach Bass, airport manager. United Airlines Flight 5879, a CRJ-200 flown by SkyWest Airlines, blew the tires as it landed on Runway 29.

None of the 28 people on board was injured, the FAA said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, kspurr@bendbulletin.com