Couple walks away from plane crash in Sisters

Photo by Mike Reed A couple from Boring, Oregon were uninjured after their light plane clipped a hangar and crashed at Sisters Eagle Air airport on Saturday, June 8.

Dan and Cyndi McKenna were flying into Sisters at about 3:30 p.m. in their 1971 Cessna 172. They hoped to join friends and camp under the wing of their airplane.

Landing to the west on runway 20, McKenna brought his plane over Wild Horse Ridge and was making a good approach to the end of the runway with full flaps, according to witnesses.

But there was a severe crosswind from the north, gusting at times to probably over 25 knots. McKenna said that as he touched down "the crosswind got a hold of me" and the plane was picked up by a gust. McKenna said he applied power to get the plane leveled off and lined back up with the runway.

On the second touch the plane again came off the runway, and again McKenna tried to salvage the landing with power.

After the third contact, McKenna decided he would go around. He said he applied full power and retracted the flaps. But the 150 horsepower 172 was only a few feet off the ground, and the stiff crosswind pushed the plane toward hangars on the south side of the runway.

Dragging the right wing tip along the tarmac, the left wing tip of the plane struck a hangar about 10 feet above the ground. This caused the plane to spin around backward and break through a fence, coming to a halt just short of Camp Polk Road.

Cyndi McKenna was uninjured. Dan McKenna received a small split in his ear.

Both were then impressed by some local hospitality, McKenna said.

Airport owner Cliff Clemens took the McKennas to the Cascade Country Inn where inn owner Judy Tolonen hosted them for a room for the night. Clemens also gave the couple a pair of box seat tickets to the Sisters Rodeo, where they spent their evening after dinner.

McKenna said the plane was insured and he will soon begin looking for a new one.

"Incidents happen. That is part of flying. If I was in the same situation again I would handle it the same way. This is not going to scare me out of aviation," McKenna said.