Wings of Flight

Wings of Flight, a flying club based at the Genesee County Airport in Batavia, is unsure if it will restore the 1947 Vampire jet that crash landed on the Rochester airport on Saturday.

The jet was believed to be the oldest flying jet in the world.  The picture above was taken Saturday when the jet was headed toward Rochester for a EAA Wings air show.

Wings of Flight spokesman Nash Dsylva said pilot Peter Treichler showed his skill and experience in landing the jet on a grass area near the airport when he manuvered the plane to a safe landing area after losing power five minutes after take off.

"The experienced pilot made an educated decision to land on the grass as he is now executing a "dead stick" landing," Dsylva said in an e-mail.  "He continued to pull the gear and flaps up to clean the plane up to improve the glide ratio. He touched down on the grass and slid for 150 feet before hitting a burm. The plane was airborne once again and impacted the grass twice before coming to rest some 250 yards after the initial touch down. Pete was able to pull himself out of the cockpit and was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with back injuries."

Shortly after take off, Treichler, of East Aurora, told air control he felt an unusual vibration. Minutes later, he declared an emergency. He turned toward the airport and lost power on final approach.  Dsylva said he made a split second decision to land in the grass.

The plan was originally based near Toronto and after it was retired was part of the Blue Devils demonstration team. Later it was owned by actor John Travolta, Wings of Flight acquired the jet in 2006. It was on loan to the Genesee Warbirds Musuem until Oct. 2008.