Man Unhurt after His Plane Bursts into Flames

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. -- A Marshall County man escaped injury Tuesday afternoon when his plane burst into flames shortly after he made an emergency landing at Guntersville Airport.

William Greenhaw of Union Grove, a 35-year veteran pilot, had been in the air about 30 minutes when he began to smell smoke and landed the two-seater experimental plane on the north end of the runway, said state Fire Marshal Jim Moon, a member of the Guntersville Fire Department.

"His landing was fine," he said. "His plane was right off of the runway. It was fully involved (in flames) when we arrived."

Moon said a fire crew extinguished the fire using a special foam. The Federal Aviation Administration was to investigate the scene, he said.

Greenhaw had just built the plane and had logged only 18 hours on it, Moon said. He had spent about $20,000 on just the 200-horsepower motor and had invested more than 200 hours in the plane's construction. The plane, which was uninsured, was a total loss, he said.

Moon said airport officials told him that it's not unusual for new planes to smoke some.

But he said Greenhaw knew something more was wrong. He said the cockpit began filling up with smoke after Moon landed about 1:15 p.m.

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