CHESAPEAKE – Pilot Clinton Bowen survived his plane’s crash into the Ohio River Wednesday, swimming ashore after the Cessna 150 went down about 11:15 a.

Thursday, March 15, 2001

CHESAPEAKE – Pilot Clinton Bowen survived his plane’s crash into the Ohio River Wednesday, swimming ashore after the Cessna 150 went down about 11:15 a.m.

Bowen, of Sybene, swam to the West Virginia shore, where he was met by emergency crews, said Huntington Fire Capt. Gary Johnson.

Bowen was taken to Saint Mary’s Hospital. He was admitted to the hospital, where he was listed in stable condition this morning.

The plane had just taken off from the Lawrence County Airport, said Dee Callicoat, acting manager at the airport.

"We were in contact with him before he left, then he went over to the Huntington (Tri-State Airport) tower the next thing we knew was the Ohio Highway Patrol reporting a plane was down."

Bowen radioed the Huntington tower that his plane had engine trouble, Callicoat said.

"Apparently, he was trying to make it back," he said.

The plane hit the water about a mile from the airport, near the 17th Street Bridge.

"If you’ve got to do it, that’s the best way putting it in the river," Callicoat said, adding that someone apparently saw the plane floating in the river and called Lawrence County 911.

Cabell County, W.Va., authorities, the Chesapeake Fire Department, the Ohio Highway Patrol and the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to the crash site.

The river remained open to traffic, Johnson said.

Bowen is a volunteer at the airport and had recently purchased the 1966-vintage airplane.