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11/14/2014 11:00 PMA female pilot who took off from the Groton-New London Airport Saturday afternoon suffered only minor injuries after crashing her single engine plane near a residential area in Clinton.
Sgt. Jeremiah Dunn of the Clinton Police Department said Shirley Onacilla, 62, of Jersey City, N.J., was flying to Orange County, NY when her 1975 Beechcraft plane malfunctioned over Clinton at about 4 p.m.
The plane was having power issues, Dunn said, and the control gauges were not working properly.
Onacilla radioed for assistance and was being directed by an air traffic controller to the Chester Airport.
“She navigated in that direction and unfortunately crashed prior to reaching Chester,” he said.
The plane crashed into trees at the end of Princess Pine Lane and became lodged in a limb upside down. The Clinton Fire Department extricated Onacilla, who was treated for minor bruises and abrasions and then released from the Shoreline Medical Center in Westbrook.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified, and a police officer is stationed at the crash site to maintain the scene until investigators arrive, Dunn said.