Two injured in eastern IA plane crash

Two Quad Cities area men were injured in a plane crash Sunday at the Marion Airport, near Cedar Rapids. Investigators from the FAA are looking into the cause of the crash which happened as the plane came in for a landing. Witnesses say the single-engine Piper Warrior clipped a hangar at the Marion Airport, then hit a second hangar’s front door. Both the pilot and passenger were able to walk away. Jan Walton, co-owner of the airport, says the men are lucky they weren’t killed in the crash. Walton says “if they would have been three feet either side they would have hit metal beams that separates the two hangars or if they would have been a little higher where the door latches on, they’re very, very fortunate.” Forty-eight-year-old Russell Thomas of Davenport was the pilot and 41-year-old Keith Foster of Walcott was the passenger. Thomas is in fair condition at a Cedar Rapids hospital while Foster was treated and released.