CHARLESTOWN — An ultralight aircraft crashed in a field in Charlestown early Sunday evening, resulting in serious injury to the pilot and sole occupant, who was flown via helicopter to the hospital after rescuers extracted him from the wreckage.

Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, investigators were at the crash site in a field off Claremont Road on Monday as the wreckage was still visible to motorists passing by. The downed aircraft is a Moyes Liteflite Dragonfly, an ultralight-category aircraft powered by a two-stroke engine and weighing about 500 pounds.

As of mid Monday afternoon, authorities still had not released detailed information about the crash, including the pilot’s identity, but witnesses said it occurred near the Morningside Flight Park, an airfield for recreational light aircraft users.

The pilot of the ultralight was conscious and alert after rescuers extracted him from the wreckage, although people who responded to the scene said he told them that he had no feeling below his waist or in his feet.

People who saw the early Sunday evening crash reported they observed the ultralight flying low near the airfield of Morningside Flight Park a little past 7 p.m. before pointing down and nose diving into the field, they told the Valley News on Monday.

“My dad and I were outside talking and I saw this aircraft get lower and lower and I said, ‘Is he going to land in the field there?’ And then not even two seconds later (the plane) noses straight into the ground,” said Kassi Bugbee, who lives at Meadow View Apartments adjacent to the field where the aircraft crashed.

Her father, Allen, who was sitting in his truck at the time of the crash, then “barreled” through the field about 500 feet to the spot of the crash, Kassi Bugbee said. Others driving past got out of their vehicles and also rushed to the spot, she said.

Allen Bugbee said that when he got to the downed plane he and another person lifted the light wings that had “collapsed” on top of the pilot in an attempt to extract him, Bugbee told the Valley News.

“His knees were pretty much touching his face,” Bugbee said. “The whole wing assembly was folded down over him.”

Within minutes, others ran to the field, including a person who works at Morningside Flight Park and a husband-and-wife couple who are residents of Meadow View Apartments and are trained in emergency aid, Allen Bugbee said.

The pilot appeared dazed, but told Bugbee “the engine went out” as he was coming in to land at Morningside Flight Park, which is where he had previously taken off.

Ultralights are used to loft other ultralights on a tow line to flying altitude. A tow line was still attached to the back of the downed ultralight and was draped over a powerline, Bugbee said.

Morningside Flight Park is owned by Kitty Hawk Kites, a Nags Head, N.C., operator of hang gliding and paragliding locations which acquired the Charlestown facility in 2011.

Morningside was the site of an ultralight crash in 2021 that killed a 54-year-old Ryegate, Vt., man. A subsequent investigation by the FAA determined that during a low-altitude turn, the engine “lost partial power” and the ultralight banked “hard” to the left with its nose pitched down. It then descended into one of the power lines.

In addition to catering to hang gliding and paragliding enthusiasts, Morningside offers a zip-line course, an outdoor laser tag system, ponds to fish and swim in and a picnic area. There also are onsite camping, cabins, restroom and shower facilities, according to its website.

In addition to state police, Charlestown Fire Department, Golden Cross Ambulance, Medic Solutions of Keene, N.H., and Dartmouth Hitchcock Advanced Response Team, or DHART, all responded to the scene.

“The response was phenomenal,” Allen Bugbee said of the rescue efforts. “But this is definitely something I don’t want to see every day.”

John Lippman can eb reached at at jlippman@vnews.com.