Contact: Sammy McDavid
At approximately 4 p.m. Wednesday [Oct. 18], an ultralight research glider belonging to Mississippi State and housed at the university's Raspet Flight Laboratory crashed off North Jackson Street in Starkville, near the area of Hospital Road and Sudduth Elementary School.
The OWL piloted rider was being piloted by veteran test pilot David Lawrence, director of MSU's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, which is adjacent to Starkville's Bryan Field.
The vehicle, which weighs a maximum of 155 pounds, is designed to be unmanned or manned. Wings of the test vehicle were separated from the fuselage, which remained intact.
Lawrence was transported by private vehicle to nearby Oktibbeha County Hospital with minor cuts and bruises and later released.
A longtime test pilot, he is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
Following the incident, the site was secured by the Starkville Police Department, and the Federal Aviation Administration subsequently gave the university permission to return the vehicle to the Raspet Lab. The incident likely will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
There was no reported damage or injury on the ground.
Specializing in lightweight composite technology, Raspet is a unit of MSU's department of aerospace engineering, a part of the Bagley College of Engineering.