The Herald, Sharon, PA Published Monday, April 9, 2001

SHENANGO TOWNSHIP

Pilot lives after craft slams into power lines
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About 6,400 Penn Power customers lose electricity briefly

A Shenango Township man suffered minor injuries after his ultralight aircraft slammed into electric lines at about 7 p.m. Sunday near an airstrip along Hubbard-Middlesex Road, Shenango Township, police said.

Gary A. Fobes, 58, of 3314 Hubbard-Middlesex Road, tried to make it back to the airstrip when the aircraft lost power and hit the wires at an airplane marker ball, said Penn Power spokesman Randy Coleman.

The plane, a 1995 CGS Hawk, broke the top wire and "bounced in and out" of the remaining five wires, he said.

The plane flipped and was suspended from the ground. It caught fire.

Fobes, who released his seat belt and fell to the ground, suffered neck burns, Coleman said.

About 6,400 electric customers lost power. Power was rerouted and restored about 30 minutes later, with final repairs to the lines completed this morning.

Southwest Mercer County Regional and state police and Shenango Township firefighters assisted.



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