7 survive Sikorsky Airport plane crash

STRATFORD -- Seven people aboard a single-engine plane landing at Sikorsky Memorial Airport this morning escaped serious injury when the plane skidded off the end of the runway and crashed into the Main Street fence.

The turbo prop, under command of a pilot and co-pilot, was transporting five passengers from Norwood, Mass., to a local business appointment, fire officials said.

Although shaken up by the crash, apparently no one has been hospitalized.

Part of the aircraft apparently smashed through the fence and ended up on Main Street. Traffic is being detoured around the crash site.

A crew from the state Department of Environmental Protection has been sent to the scene to clean up fuel that leaked from the wreck.

Fire and emergency medical personnel are also on the scene.

Few other details are available about the incident, which took place shortly after 8 a.m.

It is unclear if weather conditions this morning may have contributed to the accident, with a low cloud ceiling over the Stratford marshes abutting the airport and gray, misty skies/

The accident appears to have taken place at the end of the runway where several other planes have crashed over the years.

Bridgeport officials, who own Sikorsky Airport, have battled with Stratford officials and airport neighbors over expanding the runway safety zone to avert such incidents, but the opposition has blocked that plan to date.