May 9, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cal Poly University Police
(805) 756-2281
Professor Injured in Plane Crash at Cal Poly May 7
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- A Cal Poly professor was injured after making an emergency landing in a small private airplane on the Cal Poly soccer fields early Sunday morning, May 7.
At roughly 6 a.m. May 7, University Police responded to a call about a single engine private airplane having some kind of mechanical or fuel problems. Five students at the Cal Poly Dairy Unit heard the aircraft sputtering and they watched it begin to circle overhead.
The airplane landed on the lower soccer field just west of Highland
Drive. After touching down, the aircraft's momentum carried it forward
for approximately 100 yards, where it crashed into a power pole
at the far south end of the field.
According to University Police, the students ran to the airplane
and got the pilot out after seeing that he was unconscious and that
the plane was leaking fuel. Neither the fuel nor the aircraft caught
fire, and the pilot gained consciousness shortly thereafter.
Both UPD and the San Luis Obispo Fire Department responded, as
well as an ambulance. The pilot was transported to Sierra Vista
Hospital.
The pilot was identified as Kurt Colvin, an instructor in the Industrial
and Manufacturing Department. He received cuts and bruises and a
possible concussion, according to emergency personnel.
Federal agencies were contacted and are investigating the cause of the emergency landing and crash.
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