Cleveland jet skids off runway on Cape Cod

Saturday, March 18, 2000

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A corporate jet owned by a Cleveland company skidded off an icy Cape Cod runway yesterday, then slid across a road striking a moving vehicle, and continued into a shopping center parking lot where it hit several parked cars, police said.

Fuel leaking from the plane closed Massachusetts 28 for at least six hours after the 6 p.m. accident. The only person reported injured was an individual in the car who was taken to a hospital. The person's condition was not available.

Three crew members and one passenger were aboard the plane, which is registered to 200 PC Aircraft Holding Inc., at 200 Public Square in Cleveland. Investigators said they were told the plane was owned by BP Amoco.

The passenger lives in the Cape Cod area. The hometowns of the crew were not available.

The Falcon 900 jet was trying to land when it overshot the runway at Barnstable Municipal Airport, said Jim Peters of the Federal Aviation Administration.

"One man said that he jumped out of his car and the plane hit it," said Helen Flint, a hostess at Mitchell's Steak House, about 25 yards from where the plane came to rest. Tenants in the L-shaped plaza were told to evacuate because of the leaking fuel.

Peters said the plane, which was coming from New York's LaGuardia Airport, encountered a strong tailwind upon landing and hit a navigational instrument fixed to the runway.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

)2000 THE PLAIN DEALER. Used with permission.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/index.ssf?/news/pd/c18subsk.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), March 18, 2000