Plane Crashes After Taking Off Without Pilot

MOUNT COMFORT, Ind. -- A small plane crashed Tuesday afternoon near the Mount Comfort airport in Hancock County, but no one was on the plane when it went down.

Police said the plane's pilot, Michael Bower of Greenwood, went out for an afternoon flight out of the airport, but had some trouble starting the plane.

The pilot told authorities that he manually started the plane when it didn't start through normal means, 6News' Jennifer Carmack reported.

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Slideshow: Plane Crashes After Taking Off Without Pilot

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The plane started manually, but then proceeded down the runway and took off on its own without Bower aboard.

Bower told police that he tried to jump on the plane to turn it off, but it kept climbing, so he had to jump off.

"He watched it from the airport over there, helplessly. He wasn't able to do anything," said Hancock County sheriff's Capt. Tom Harrison. "It got about 50 to 70 feet in the air and flew by itself until it cartwheeled into the field."

Bower suffered minor injuries when he jumped onto the runway. The Federal Aviation Administration will take over the investigation. Crews expected to clear the wreckage from the field later in the day.