AURORA, Ore. --
A pilot practicing takeoffs and landings at the Aurora Airport smashed into the roof of a nearby home in a crash that seriously injured him but left the homeowner unharmed.
Marion County deputies and the Aurora firefighters responded to a home in the 14000 block of Cessna Street Northeast at about 12:30 p.m. Friday and found a 1956 Aeronca Champion 7-AE sticking out of the manufactured home's roof.
The pilot, 70-year-old George Bahrman, was on the ground when emergency responders arrived. He was the only one on board the plane, deputies said, and was taken to Oregon Health and Science University Hospital where he was listed in serious condition.
Bahrman told deputies he was practicing takeoffs and landings when he crashed.
Sally Jones, the home's owner, said she had just stepped outside when the accident occurred.
"(The) impact blew me off my front porch," Jones said. "I bet I wasn’t two feet from where the nose of the plane is in my house. I had just shut my door, so if the plane nose is right here, I was a foot away."
The woman's 18-year-old dog was inside on the couch when the crash happened. She found her pet, badly shaken, and then spotted the pilot.
"Got my dog, came out and the pilot is sitting on my garage roof. Shocking, stunned, that kind of stuff," Jones said.
Jones' neighbor, Sam Price, said she saw Bahrman climbing down from the roof.
"I spoke to him and he said the airplane went into a stall and he couldn’t get it out of a stall. So, there it is and the airport's right there," Price said.
The impact sparked a small fire, but it extinguished itself, deputies said.
Federal Aviation Administration investigators conducting business at the Aurora Airport responded immediately to the scene. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
The plane is owned by Howard, Howard and Fine Aircraft out of Aurora, according to FAA records.
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