© AP PhotoPilot Mark Dusenberry crashes his Wright Flyer replica on Huffman Prairie in Dayton, Ohio on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009.
Julia Frasure of the National Park Service said Mark Dusenberry was piloting his replica of the 1905 Wright Brothers Flyer III when it crashed at Huffman Prairie on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton.
Dusenberry was flown by helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition.
Amanda Wright Lane, great-grandniece of Wilbur and Orville Wright, said Dusenberry was practicing for a flight Monday to mark the 104th anniversary of practical flight, when the brothers proved at Kitty Hawk, N.C., that they could take off, control the plane and safely land.
Dusenberry, 48, of Dennison, also crashed the plane two years ago at Huffman Prairie during a demonstration to mark the 102nd anniversary. The plane was damaged, but Dusenberry was not injured.
The replica is fragile, made primarily of wood and fabric.
Dusenberry was making his second practice flight of the day, said witness Tim Gaffney, who estimated that the plane was about 10 feet off the ground when the pilot began to have trouble.
"The airplane nosed down towards the ground," Gaffney said. "Then it pitched up steeply and came down at a steep angle and crashed on its nose."
Monday's ceremony has been canceled as a result of the crash, said base spokesman Derek Kaufman.
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