Student pilot attempted solo cross-country flight before crashing into a Connecticut campground

PLYMOUTH, Conn. — A student pilot was attempting a solo cross-country flight before crashing into a Connecticut campground, according to a federal aviation report released Tuesday.

The 1968, fixed-wing, single-engine Cessna 172 aircraft had “sputtered” and “quit" on Monday, prompting the pilot to contact air traffic controllers and attempt to land the plane at Waterbury Airport, a small airfield with turf runways. But the pilot “could not find the field in time and landed into the trees," the Federal Aviation Administration report said.

The unidentified pilot was seriously injured and the plane was listed as “destroyed” in the report.

The crash occurred at Gentiles Campground in Plymouth, which is less than a half mile away from the airfield. Video from the scene showed the mangled plane, upside down, and just yards away from recreational vehicles, propane tanks and electrical wires.