Veteran Connecticut Pilot Crashes in Westerly

     WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) _ A Connecticut pilot with 20 years of flying experience managed to avoid hitting a house while crash landing his small plane in the front lawn of a home in Westerly.
     Fourty-four-year-old Doug Durand of Danielson was pulling an advertising banner on his way back to Westerly Airport from New Haven when his one-seat, single-propeller plane lost power at about 5 p.m Saturday.
     Durand managed to jettison the banner. He hit three sections of fence railings on Ocean View Highway during the landing but managed to miss the house and utility wires.
     The plane's landing gear, fabric and the frame of the wing were damaged in the landing, but Durand was not injured.
     An aeronautics inspector on the scene ruled out the 40-year-old plane's age or fuel supply factors in the accident.
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     Information from: The Day, http://www.theday.com

     (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
     APNT 07-05-09 1127EDT<