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Pilot crash lands in Wadsworth backyard

Pilot Roger Keene says his engine simply quit, forcing him to crash land a mile from Wadsworth Municipal Airport.

It was a scary morning for a local pilot who crashed his plane, but who fortunately walked away.

Around 11:30 AM, 73-year-old Roger Keene was making his descent to an airstrip in Wadsworth. He had just taken off a few minutes before from Wellington Airport in Lorain County.

For reasons still not clear, Keene said his engine simply quit, forcing him to crash land. He was about a mile from landing.

“It’s something you don’t want to do,” he said. “You have to experience it. It’s a scary situation.”

A pilot of 45 years, Keene could see homes below and had Route 57 in his sites. Just hoping to survive, he first struck the tops of trees before crashing to the ground, spinning, and settling against a wooden stage in someone’s backyard.

The property damage was minor, though the plane is beyond repair. Miraculously, Keene got up and walked away without a scratch.

A retired Ford employee and Vietnam veteran, he said it was his first crash and will mark his final flight.

“Probably won’t never fly again,” he said, planning to now just reflect on what happened.

“Go home, sit down and relax,” he said. “What else can I do, you know? And think about the situation. That’s all I can do.”

The FAA confirmed to Channel 3 News that they will send an investigator to try to better understand what, exactly, went wrong.

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