Famous Stunt Pilot Patty Wagstaff Injured After Airplane Flips at St. Augustine Airport
A well-known stunt pilot was injured after a small plane flipped over shortly after landing at the Northeast Florida Regional Airport in St. Augustine.
Patricia "Patty" Wagstaff, a U.S. national aerobatic champion and member of The National Aviation Hall of Fame, was the pilot of a plane that ran off the runway and then flipped upside down after landing around 5:30 p.m., according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Rescue crews responded to the scene, but the two people inside the plane were able to walk away, according to St. Johns County Sheriff's Office spokesman Chuck Mulligan. Wagstaff, a 68-year-old St. Augustine resident, was listed as the pilot of the 1958 Beech K35 airplane. She suffered minor injuries but was not taken to a hospital, according to FHP.
She issued a short statement about the incident on Twitter on Wednesday night.
"We had a mechanical problem in our V Tail Bonanza after landing a St Augustine this evening," Wagstaff wrote. "People have been asking and I wanted to let everyone know that my passenger (one of our instructors) are doing fine."
No other details were immediately available. FAA will investigate the cause of the incident.
Wagstaff was the first woman ever to win the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships which she won three times in a row. She flies as a stunt pilot for films and television and coaches other aerobatic pilots.
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