BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – At approximately 8:30 Saturday morning Troopers from the Michigan State Police - Brighton Post were dispatched to a plane crash in the
area of 2600 Toby Drive, Brighton Township, in Livingston County.
A caller to Livingston County Central Dispatch stated they heard the plane engine and it sounded funny and then the plane crashed. The plane, a Aeronca 7AC, single engine propellor driven, had just taken off from the Brighton Airport.
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The place crashed into a swampy wet lands area approximately one half mile from the Brighton Airport. Members of the Brighton Area Fire Department along with a Trooper and a citizen were able to break through the brush surrounding the swamp land area and then waded and swam to the plane crash site. Responders located two occupants in the cockpit area of the plane.
The pilot has been identified as 79-year-old Walter Davenport from Brighton Michigan. The female passenger who was killed has been identified as 56-year-old Ana Ortega from the country of Costa Rica.
Additional First Responders utilzed axes and chain saws to cut a path to the edge of the swamp water. Brighton Area Fire Department personnel used a rubber raft and a rope system to ferry additional supplies and personnel to the crash scene.
Davenport remains hospitalized in critical condition at the University of Michigan Hospital.Two investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were on scene conducting a preliminary investigation. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be responding to the scene for a more detailed investigation regarding the crash of the airplane. Responding public safety agencies included Michigan State Police -Brighton Post, Brighton Area Fire Department, Livingston County Central Dispatch, Livingston County EMS, Federal Aviation Administration, University of Michigan Survival Flight.