This Cessna 172N (N3480E) crashed on a horse farm in Fishersville, Virginia. (Photo courtesy of Newsleader.com)
A small plane carrying three Dutch men crash-landed on a farm in Virginia on Saturday, federal and state authorities said on Sunday.
The Cessna 172N aircraft (N3480E) was forced to land at around 4 p.m. local time in a field near Eagle’s Nest Airport, a small airport located about three miles west of Waynesboro in Augusta County.
Holly Baker, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the aircraft lost power as it was taking off from Eagle’s Nest Airport (21VA). It struck a fence before making a rough landing in the farm field near the airport.
Baker said the three people who were on board the aircraft were not injured. The Virginia State Police identified them as Dutch citizens, and said 60-year-old Leo van der Sloot was flying the aircraft.
Federal records showed that the 1978-build aircraft is registered to Apollo Aviation, Inc., a Miami-based company that provides aviation services.
The FAA will investigate the cause of the accident.
