Missouri man injured in plane crash

Tuesday, February 19th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

POND CREEK, Okla. (AP) _ A Missouri man suffered two broken ankles when the single-engine airplane he was piloting crashed into a Grant County field Monday afternoon, authorities said.

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper noticed a small airplane down in a field near Pond Creek about 3:40 p.m. When he arrived at the scene, a pipeline company employee told him that someone drove the pilot, Bill Scocklas, to a Ponca City hospital.

Scocklas, 61 of Plattsburg, Mo., was treated for two broken ankles and released.

He told authorities he was flying the 1967 Cessna 177 fixed-wing aircraft at an altitude of 300 to 400 feet while surveying pipeline when he ``dozed off and hit the ground,'' the patrol reported. The accident happened about two hours before the trooper noticed the wrecked plane.

The aircraft's propeller and landing gear were damaged in the crash, troopers said.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were advised of the accident and are expected to arrive Tuesday morning.