File photo
UPDATED 8:50 p.m.
A plane owned by Zeliff Aviation skidded off a runway while trying to land at an airport in Livingston County, Mich., today and according to news reports from the area, the pilot suffered only minor injuries.
The pilot was Pete Zeliff, owner of p.w. minor and a member of the Genesee County Economic Development Center Board of Directors. Zeliff is avid about aviation and owns planes and a helicopter, which are located at the Genesee County Airport. He annually sponsors an aviation summer camp at the airport for young people.
According to patient information at the University of Michigan Hospital, Zeliff is undergoing treatment but has not been admitted. A source said he was being kept for observation but is OK.
According to reports, Zeliff was attempting to land a Cessna 525C Citation at Howell-Livingston County Airport just before noon. The plane was unable to stop on the runway and it crashed through a barrier and across a roadway. The wings were torn off and the fuselage came to rest upside down.
One of the witnesses and first on the scene was a local mayor, Nick Proctor, who said he talked with the pilot and was told Zeliff had not been alerted to icy conditions on the runway before attempting to land.
Zeliff is active in the community on several fronts and rescued p.w. minor from almost certain closure a couple of years ago. He's invested heavily in the company since, created dozens of new jobs, returned manufacturing from China, and is helping to get a new retail shoe store open downtown. He also developed a subdivision of homes on the east end of Town of Batavia off of Route 5 called Oakmont.
