A plane crashed Saturday evening at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The crash closed the airfield, halting all arrivals and departures for an hour and a half. Luckily, the two people on the plane walked away alive.
An industrial parkway tucked behind Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is where plane enthusiast Dan Zirzou can be found most weekends.
“Some people go out fishing, and some people will come here, and you can just watch planes,” Zirzou said.
Saturday's photo session wasn't typical. Around 6 p.m., he saw a 1981 General Aviation Beech Bonanza start to stall.
“He touched once, and he started porpoising," Zirzou added. "He came back up and back down, came back up, the last time, about the third time at about a 45-degree angle, that’s when the gear collapsed,” said Zirzou.
Once colliding with the runway, Zirzou said smoke started to emerge.
“I was just hoping whoever was inside was getting out safely,” said Zirzou. “That’s all you care about. You want to make sure whoever is inside is safe and getting out of there.”
On the other side of the runway, Pilot Brent Lockerby and girlfriend Abigail Johnson were leaving the IX Center when they started seeing flashing lights.
“We saw a bunch of firetrucks and stuff bursting down the runway,” said Johnson. “At first, we thought it was a drill.”
Lockerby added, “Being a pilot, seeing something like that, it’s always nerve-wracking and just hoping everyone’s okay.”
Luckily, both passengers made it out of the plane safely. Zirzou captured it all, moment by moment.
“It looked like the pilot was out first because I could see the pilot go in from the passenger side then they got out,” Zirzou said.
The airfield closed for an hour and a half and reopened around 7:30 p.m. as emergency crews worked to clean the wreckage. The Federal Aviation Administration is now handling the investigation.
“I was very happy to see them walk away,” said Zirzou. “The speed that that thing came back down, I’m glad they made it out.”
