Plane Flies 2 Hours Sans Pilot, Crashes
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A small airplane took off without its pilot and flew for nearly two hours before crashing in a field. Paul A. Sirks of Dayton, Ohio, had landed the single-engine plane at Urbana’s Grimes Field airport because of mechanical problems, police said. The plane’s engine stalled on a taxiway, and Sirks got out to restart it by hand-turning the propeller. Once the engine started, the empty plane taxied away without Sirks, nearly hitting another plane and a hangar before becoming airborne. Authorities said the plane may have run out of fuel.
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