Residents Near Farm Say Crop Duster Came Way Too Close

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) - Some Fort Collins neighbors are angry after they say a crop dusting plane was flying too close to their homes.

The Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating the low flying plane. It was a crop duster hired by a sugar beet farmer. The plane flew over a field near Ziegler Road on Saturday.

Many people were awakened by the plane and began calling 911 afraid the crop duster would lose control while flying so low over homes. The residents say they filed complaints with the FAA because the pilot put them in danger.

"There was no margin for error in his flying. If anything would have happened to the plane or if he had misjudged something, he would have crashed in to our neighborhood," resident Lee Bradford said.

Residents captured the low-flying plane buzzing over homes on their cell phones and cameras.

"Dangerous, reckless, complete disregard for persons on the ground; almost arrogance with this flying," Bradford said.

"It was extremely, extremely scary; there were times when it really took your breath away," resident Michelle Zeller said. "We're not anti farming. This is more about a reckless pilot that was endangering a whole neighborhood."

The FAA says it's investigating to see if the pilot violated any flight regulations.

CBS4 made several attempts to contact the owner of the farm land and the farmer. Neither returned the calls.