Tipsy Nipper down......

Tipsy Nipper. Foto: Wikipedia

Pilot killed in crash near Winters, USA

The pilot of an experimental airplane was killed Wednesday when the wing broke off his single-engine aircraft just south of Winters, sending him spiraling to the ground, officials said.

The crash occurred around 4:15 p.m. as the plane slammed into a steep bank bordering the east side of Interstate 505 about 150 yards north of Wolfskill Road.

The pilot -- who officials are not identifying pending family notification -- died at the scene, said California Highway Patrol public information officer Chris Parker. He was the plane's only occupant.

Witnesses standing at the edge of an orchard near the crash site recalled watching the plane fall from the sky.

"I heard the engine making a weird sound and I looked up and saw the plane spiraling down from the sky," said Winters resident Gorden Kemp, who was out walking his dog when the crash occurred.

"I didn't hear it hit," Kemp said, explaining that he watched as pieces of the aircraft fell from the sky before he lost sight of the plane, which was registered to Sharman Enterprises Inc., based at Vacaville's Nut Tree Airport.

According to the FAA's N-Number registry, the 1959 Avions Fairey Tipsy Nipper T-66 was an experimental fixed-wing aircraft.