Suffolk News-Herald

A Smithfield man, whose airplane went down near the new King’s Fork High School Saturday, walked away from the crash site.

Timothy F. Riddick, 50, of 215 Edgewood Drive, Smithfield was treated and released from Obici Hospital, said Capt. Jim T. Judkins, spokesman for the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Department.

&uot;He had a few scrapes and scratches,&uot; Judkins said. &uot;I told him the angels must have been with him.&uot;

Riddick’s single-engine Cessna crashed around 10:50 a.m., coming down atop a low-lying thicket of trees, which served as a safety net that kept the plane from being more severely damaged, Judkins said.

Riddick reported seeing smoke coming from the engine shortly after taking off from Suffolk Executive Airport, Judkins. He was trying to return to the airport when the plane crashed.

A representative from the Federal Aviation Administration was coming to investigate the crash site late Saturday.

Efforts to reach Riddick were unsuccessful.