May 25, Chapel Hill, N.C. / Piper Warrior

At about 10:30 EDT, a flight instructor and student pilot sustained minor injuries when their Piper PA-28-161 crashed -mile short of the runway at the Horace Williams Airport. The pilot reported encountering severe gusting winds while on final approach to runway 27 to the extent that control about the airplanes longitudinal axis was lost. Examination of the wreckage path revealed the airplanes initial collision with the ground was on a heading of about 180 degrees. Local TV news subsequently reported that numerous trees and power lines were down as a result of winds that reached 50 to 60 miles an hour as a weather system traveled through the area at the time of the accident.