Small plane crashes near Raleigh East Airport, 2 injured
Two people were hurt when a 2009 Rainbow Cheetah XLS crashed near Raleigh East Airport, but both were conscious when rescuers arrived.
A small plane came down hard near Raleigh East Airport in Knightdale on Wednesday afternoon, striking storage trailers, then trees, before stopping in a ravine just beyond the runway. Two people were injured, but both were conscious and alert when emergency crews reached the wreckage.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol identified the aircraft as a 2009 Rainbow Cheetah XLS and said it was traveling southwest near the end of Three Sisters Road when the crash unfolded around 2:30 p.m. The plane hit several enclosed storage trailers before continuing on into the tree line and ending in what investigators described as an uncontrolled landing beyond the runway. Knightdale police said two people were on board: pilot Luis Quijano and passenger John Wellman.
Fire officials later said both patients were taken to WakeMed and were expected to recover. That outcome was a relief in a scene that could easily have turned far worse, given how close the aircraft came to airport property, nearby trailers and the road that runs alongside the field. Knightdale Fire Department described the response as a large deployment, the kind of mobilization it uses for rescue incidents, hazardous materials calls and natural or man-made disasters.
Raleigh East Airport, also known by the FAA identifier W17, sits about 2 miles east of Knightdale and has been open to the public since May 1964. AirNav lists Raleigh East Flight Training at 725 Three Sisters Road, underscoring how closely the airport is tied to local general aviation activity in eastern Wake County. ABC11 reported that FlightAware showed the plane had taken off from Cox Airport in Apex, linking the incident to another Wake County airfield.
The Federal Aviation Administration has taken over the investigation, which means the cause will be handled through standard aviation procedures rather than immediate speculation. The National Transportation Safety Board says preliminary reports are usually posted within days, and its aviation accident database reaches back to 1962. For Knightdale, Apex and the neighborhoods around smaller Wake County airports, the crash was a reminder that even a routine flight can become a fast-moving emergency with homes, roads and airport operations all close to the path of risk.
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