Two Injured and One Dead in Plane and Car Crashes at the Saratoga County Airport
Two people were injured and one person is dead after a plane crash and car accident at the Saratoga County Airport.
The plane crash occurred on May 26, 2026 at 1:47 p.m. on the runway of Saratoga County Airport while the car accident occurred at 1:55 p.m. at the entrance to the airport at the intersection of Geyser and Greenfield Roads.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) preliminary incident notice, the plane crash occurred during takeoff when a towed glider pitched up causing the towing aircraft to “nose over” and strike the runway. The crash caused both the aircraft and grass near the accident to catch fire.
The aircraft was identified by both the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA as a single engine, single seat Piper PA-25 registered to a local glider club. According to registration information, the aircraft was first manufactured in 1969 and was most recently certified in 2012.
While New York State Police initially reported one individual, the aircraft’s pilot, had been seriously injured in the crash, the FAA notice listed a single fatality in the accident. As of time of publication, State Police have not released an update on the incident, nor has the individual’s name been released.
The NTSB is currently investigating the incident and will release a preliminary report within the next 30 days.
According to NTSB data, this model of aircraft has been involved in 116 accidents since 1962. Of these, 30 resulted in fatal injuries, 10 resulted in serious injuries, 21 resulted in minor injuries and 53 resulted in no injuries. The remaining two incidents had incomplete data. The most recent incident listed by NTSB involving the model occurred in February in 2025 in Honduras.
The plane crash led to a car accident directly outside the airport. According to the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office, a Saratoga County Office of Emergency Services Ford 150 pickup truck responding to the plane crash struck a white Jeep Grand Cherokee, causing the Jeep to roll over.
At the time of the crash, the Jeep was traveling eastbound on Geyser Road while the truck was traveling northbound on Greenfield Avenue.
The driver of the truck was transported to Albany Medical Center while the driver of the Jeep was transported to Saratoga Hospital. Both drivers were transported by Malta-Stillwater EMS with non-life-threatening injuries. The accident is being investigated by the Sheriff’s Collision Reconstruction Unit.
This is the second fatal plane crash near in Saratoga County in less than a year. In October 2025 a Mooney M20E crashed just after takeoff after suffering an engine failure, according to an NTSB preliminary report.
Prior to October, Saratoga County hadn’t experienced a fatal plane crash since 2014 when a pilot crashed in Gansevoort while attempting to pick up a towable banner, according to the NTSB. The last non-fatal accident occurred in 2023 when a student and instructor were forced to make an emergency landing in a field after running out of fuel.