LIMERICK TOWNSHIP, PA — A historic World War II-era warplane crashed Wednesday evening while trying to land at Heritage Field Airport, leaving the single-engine aircraft flipped upside down in a grassy area and sending the pilot to a nearby hospital.
Emergency crews responded around 7:15 p.m. to the airport on the 3300 block of West Ridge Pike in Limerick Township. Officials said the pilot was the only person aboard, and firefighters were still on scene after the crash because fuel was leaking from one of the wings.
The extent of the pilot’s injuries has not been released. Limerick Fire Department Chief Ken Shuler said the pilot was being removed from the wreckage when crews arrived and later appeared to be talking as he left the scene.
Airport crash leaves the aircraft inverted in a grassy area
Chopper 6 footage showed the plane on its back in the airport grass after the attempted landing. The aircraft was not on a runway when responders found it, and crews worked to stabilize the scene while dealing with the fuel leak.
Video shared by a local photographer also showed the plane in the air just moments before the crash, underscoring how quickly the landing attempt went wrong. The aircraft was removed from the scene Wednesday night after crews finished their immediate response.
Officials have not said what caused the crash or where the pilot was flying from before the landing attempt. The investigation remains in its early stages.
FAA records identify the plane as a Harvard 3 variant
Federal Aviation Administration records identify the aircraft as a “Harvard 3” variant of the historic T-6, a training plane used during the World War II era. Allied forces flew the type to train combat pilots before they moved on to fighter aircraft.
The records also show the plane was manufactured in 1944, making it one of the vintage military trainers still in circulation decades later. Even with its age, the aircraft remained in active use and carried a paint scheme associated with the British Royal Navy.
That combination of history and use made the crash especially striking for people at the airport, where a rare piece of wartime aviation ended up overturned in the grass after a routine landing attempt went bad.
Private ownership in Bucks County and a military-style paint scheme
The plane is now privately owned and registered to a company in Bucks County, according to federal records. While its exterior still reflects a British Royal Navy paint scheme, the aircraft was not operating as a military plane and was being flown as a private aircraft at the time of the crash.
No public information has been released about the company that owns it or about the pilot’s identity. Officials also have not said whether the aircraft had any mechanical issues before the attempted landing.
The registration details add another layer to the story: a once-military trainer, built in 1944, was still flying in private hands when it came down at a suburban Montgomery County airport.
Firefighters stayed for the fuel leak while crews uprighted the plane
Because fuel was leaking from one wing, firefighters remained at the airport after the crash to help secure the site. Crews also worked to upright the airplane, which had come to rest upside down in the grass.
That response helped limit the immediate hazards around the wreckage. The aircraft was removed later Wednesday night, but officials did not say exactly what steps were taken to tow it or how long the cleanup took.
The scene briefly turned the airport into an emergency response area, with fire crews, local officials and aviation authorities all involved as they waited for the larger investigative process to begin.
FAA and NTSB will investigate what happened during the landing attempt
The township has contacted both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the crash. Those agencies typically examine the aircraft, the weather, pilot actions, maintenance records and other factors that may have contributed to an accident.
For now, local officials are sticking to what they saw: a historic plane went down during an attempted landing, the pilot survived the initial impact and was taken to a hospital, and the airplane ended the night upside down in a field at Heritage Field Airport.
More details are expected as federal investigators gather evidence and interview witnesses. At this stage, officials have not released a cause for the crash or updated the pilot’s condition.
Local news that matters, from Dulaney Griffin.
