A Boeing-Stearman PT-17 Kaydet (registered OO-OUI) crashed near Heidestraat in Hasselt, Belgium, on Friday evening around 17:20 LT. According to TV Limburg, two people were in the biplane, and one of them, a lady, died. Emergency services rushed to the crash site and transported the pilot to a hospital.
On Friday evening, emergency services received several reports of a small plane crashing in a forest behind a house near Heidestraat. Residents of the street are used to the sound of planes since Kiewit airport, a small regional airfield, is only about two kilometres away.
However, this plane caught their attention. Two neighbours saw the biplane flying quite low, but suddenly the engine started sputtering, and the plane made a sharp turn. After that, it went silent, and they heard a dull thud. Another neighbour, who had just arrived, saw the biplane circling and then crashing.
Part of the street has been cordoned off. The police and the Limburg public prosecutor’s office are urging people to respect the perimeter, as several onlookers have already tried to bypass it.
