A pilot was airlifted to an Atlanta hospital Sunday after his plane crashed at Falcon Field in Peachtree City, according to Fire Department officials.

Bruce Schmidt, 55, was flying what some people were calling an experimental aircraft when the single-seat, single-engine plane went down.

Peachtree City Fire Department units first arrived on the scene at 11:36 a.m., about eight minutes after the initial 911 call, according to Capt. Ed Eiswerth.

The plane was between the runway and the taxiway in a grassy area when authorities arrived, Eiswerth said. Schmidt was trapped in the cockpit, as the craft was up on its side and half-flipped over on its back.

The plane was not on fire, but there was a fuel leak, Eiswerth said. After plugging the fuel leak, rescue workers pulled the victim from the aircraft.

Schmidt was stabilized by Peachtree City rescue personnel and then turned over to a Phoenix Air unit out of Griffin, which airlifted him to Atlanta Medical Center.

There was no other person or structure in harm's way at the time of the crash. “We did put down some foam lines in case the fuel ignited, as a precautionary measure, but there was no fire,” said Eiswerth.

Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration worked at the scene Sunday as well. The airport was “back to normal 30 minutes after it happened,” said airport manager Jim Savage.

FAA inspector Calvin Robinson said Monday afternoon that there was nothing new concerning the investigation, and none of the investigators had been able to speak with Schmidt, who was still in the Intensive Care Unit at Atlanta Medical Center at press time.

Robinson said that the wreckage from the plane will be turned over to a salvage area, probably by the pilot's insurance company, and the FAA will request access to continue its investigation, which will probably take at least several weeks, he added.

Three witnesses were listed on the Peachtree City Police Department's initial report, according to a spokesman, but their names could not be released because the investigation was ongoing.

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