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One of two crashed planes in Hastings was from local flight school

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — There are new details about one of the plane crashes that happened in St. Johns County over the weekend.

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A Cessna 172 crashed into a field on County Road 305 on Sunday morning.

Looking at pictures from the crash, it's hard to believe no one was hurt.

Action News Jax reporter Courtney Cole learned the plane involved in the crash was from a local flight school called Florida Flyers Flight Academy in St. Augustine.

The plane was found by FHP troopers.

Both the pilot and the passenger made it out unharmed.

According to the FHP report, the pilot was practicing emergency drills over a field — but pilot error caused the plane to crash.

"The wheels essentially dug in and flipped the airplane over on its back. They're fortunate in that case to get out of there,” said Capt. Wayne Ziskal, an associate aeronautics professor at Jacksonville University.

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He said the maneuver was a normal part of learning how to fly.

"What normally happens is the instructor gives the student a problem. The folks are flying along and the instructor simulates,” Ziskal said.

According to the FHP report, the pilot was practicing emergency drills over a field—but pilot error caused the plane to crash.

"That leads me to believe something went wrong with the ability to fly the air plane out of there at the bottom altitude that was briefed on the maneuver,” Ziskal said.

When Cole went to Florida Flyers Flight Academy to learn more about what happened, the chief instructor said he had "no comment" while the FAA investigation is active.

On Monday, we learned Florida Flyers Flight Academy is an FAA-approved flight school.

Action News Jax also submitted a request to the FAA for any recent inspections for the school.

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