FRANKFORT — A downstate pilot suffered burns when his Cessna crashed near the Frankfort airport.
The pilot, 54, of Ypsilanti, took off from the airport at about 2:30 p.m. Friday. He experienced engine trouble shortly after takeoff, Benzie County Sheriff Rory Heckman said.
The plane clipped trees and crashed near Palcich Road north of the airport. The engine caught fire, and a resident with a garden hose helped put it out.
The pilot, who was conscious and alert, was taken by helicopter to a burn center in Grand Rapids.
