Curtiss plane crashes, pilot is uninjured

    HAMMONDSPORT—A reproduction plane owned by the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum crashed into Keuka Lake shortly after takeoff, Thursday, June 30.
    According to the Steuben County Sheriff's Office, a call came in at 7:38 p.m. that the reproduction 1911 Curtiss A-1 Triad crashed into the lake.  The report said pilot Kevin J. House, 58, Bath, made an unexpected crash landing into the lake causing substantial structural damage to the plane.  Authorities said House was not injured in the incident.
    The sheriff's office added the plane was towed back to shore.  The Hammondsport Fire Department and Ambulance were dispatched to the scene.  The report said the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation police were already patrolling Keuka Lake and responded because of fuel possibly leaking into the lake.
    The A-1 Triad was scheduled  to be part of the Centennial of Naval Aviation Festival on Saturday, July 2, where the plane would have been flown on the 100th anniversary of the original A-1 flight.  Museum Director Trafford Doherty said the event was canceled because the plane was badly damaged.
    He explained the museum was training an alternate pilot on Thursday when the plane crashed in the lake.  Doherty said it was House’s first time flying the Triad.  He said control of the plane “just got away from him.”