Pilot, passenger walk away unharmed in plane crash near French Lick Airport

FRENCH LICK, Ind. (WAVE) - An investigation is underway after a single-engine plane crashed near the French Lick Airport Saturday afternoon.

Indiana State Police reported that a pilot from Celestine, Indiana had crashed the plane just west of the airport around 1:37 p.m. Saturday.

A release from ISP said 911 calls were received by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to the crash. When they arrived, they confirmed the crash and requested assistance from ISP in Jasper, Indiana.

Preliminary investigation revealed a single-engine, fixed wing airplane piloted by Johnnie Bush, 70, crashed when approaching Runway 8 at the airport.

The pilot and and a single passenger within the plane were unharmed from the crash.

Bush told authorities he experienced engine trouble prior to the crash, and investigators do not yet have a cause for the crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been contacted and will be sending investigators to the scene Sunday.