Two separate plane crashes that occurred less than 24 hours apart left two men dead and a Taft man injured. Both incidents took place on private air strips and involved experienced pilots who crashed while still on the ground, authorities said.
The first crash occurred on Aug. 23 at 4:20 p.m. at the St. Charles Parish Airport. James F. Miller, 61, was undergoing pilot recertification with Wendell Lee Collins, an Air Force lieutenant colonel, when his plane veered left while attempting to take off and struck a tree. That crash caused the plane to engulf in flames, St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dwayne LaGrange said.
“The plane never left the ground,” LaGrange said. “Members of the fire department doused the plane with water, but the coroner pronounced both men dead at the scene.”
The other accident occurred Monday in Taft at around 12:10 p.m. when the plane of 64-year-old Lucien Taft Triche flipped over as he taxied down his private runway.
Triche was rolled out of the plane and was trapped under the wing. Once Triche was removed, he was taken to the hospital with broken bones, LaGrange said.
None of the injuries were life-threatening.
Triche and a mechanic started working on the plane at around 7 a.m. that morning because of emission problems. They finished around noon and Triche was taking the plane on a test run.
“Not only was Triche an experienced pilot, but the mechanic had been working on planes since 1947,” LaGrange said.
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