Minn. pilot escapes crash with minor injuries

5:23 PM, Jul 31, 2012   |    comments
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NORTHFIELD, Minn. - A Northfield man has only minor injuries after his experimental single-engine plane crashed into a cornfield.

The Dakota County sheriff's office says 61-year-old Benny Svien was trying to land on a runway on his property Tuesday afternoon when he began having mechanical problems with the plane's rudder at about 1,700 feet.

The plane crashed and caught fire. Svien got out with minor cuts to his neck.

The plane was destroyed. Federal investigators have joined local authorities at the scene.

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