Small plane crashes at Brookhaven airport

The pilot of a light sport plane lost control of his aircraft shortly after takeoff Thursday at Brookhaven Calabro Airport and made a hard landing short of the runway, Town of Brookhaven officials said.

"The pilot walked away from the scene, but went to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital in Patchogue for observation," Brookhaven Town spokesman Jack Krieger said in a statement.

Soon after takeoff, just before 4 p.m., the canopy that comes down over the plane's cockpit came open, the statement said. The pilot, who was not identified, turned the plane to come back for a landing and missed the runway by 350 feet, landing on grass, Krieger said.

Suffolk County police and the town's public safety officers went to the scene after the crash and were awaiting the arrival of Federal Aviation Administration investigators.

The town's Division of General Aviation maintains and operates the two-runway airport on 600 acres in Shirley. The airport handles more than 135,000 takeoffs and landings a year, according to the town's website.