Pilot of ultralight dies in Hartselle plane crash
May 11—Several agencies were outside of Hartselle on Friday afternoon recovering the body of a man the Morgan County Sheriff's Office said was killed in a plane crash behind a house after flying out of the Hartselle-Morgan County Regional Airport.
Morgan County Coroner Jeff Chunn on Friday afternoon said the victim was 75-year-old Douglas Chapman of Decatur.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the crash occurred behind a house at the end of Beard Road, located west of the airport. Chunn said the crash occurred about 300 feet into the woods behind the house.
Chunn said Chapman was the only fatality and the only individual on the plane.
Morgan County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Mike Swafford said deputies were notified of the crash at approximately 9:10 a.m. and the crash happened shortly before that. He said the pilot was pronounced dead at the scene.
Chunn was on scene with airport director Stoney Powell and another airport employee. He said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, who were also on scene Friday, are investigating the crash.
The crash occurred 3,000 feet from the airport, according to Chunn.
Chunn and Powell confirmed the pilot was flying in an ultralight aircraft, a small one- or two-seat airplane often weighing less than 300 pounds. They do not require a pilot license to operate in the United States, according to the FAA.
"With an ultralight, the investigation is a little bit different than with a commercial built airplane," Chunn said.
Powell said not many ultralight aircraft use the airport, and this was the first one he has seen in a while.
"People will buy an ultralight kit and put it together in their shop themselves," Powell said.
— wes.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442.
