PLANE CRASH LEAVES PILOT, PASSENGER UNINJURED
A small plane had to make an emergency landing in a Montgomery County cornfield on Thursday.
Around 3 p.m. Thursday, law enforcement received a call about a plane sitting in a field south of Red Oak.
Mike Josephson was flying his 1975 Cessna to Destin, Fla. with his mother when he said he felt the plane begin to vibrate.
“When we were taxiing, the pre-flight checklist was fine,” said Josephson.
Although the checklist went well, Josephson said it didn’t take long for him to realize something was wrong.
He said he tried to make it back to the airport, but realized he wasn’t going to be able to make it and began to look for a place to land.
“I’m always looking for somewhere to land when I fly in case of an emergency, “ Josephson said.
Josephson was able to land the plane in a cornfield about five miles outside of Red Oak, owned by Darwin Bailey.
He said he was able to get the landing gear out in time and the plane landed at about 150 mph.
Josephson said when he landed, he got out Google Maps to figure out where he was so he could walk to find help.
He also said he and his mother both remained calm through the situation. Luckily, no one was injured in the emergency landing.
“I commend my mom. She stayed calm the entire time and so did I,” said Josephson. “I’m glad no one was injured. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to my mom.”
The farmer of the field, Dane Belt and some other people were able to help Josephson load the plane onto a trailer and take it to a hangar at the Red Oak Municipal Airport.
There, the Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation to find the cause of the emergency landing.
The organization has said it was catastrophic engine failure and nothing could have been done about it, according to Josephson.
Josephson also said if the failure had occurred at night, he and his mother might not have walked away from the plane uninjured.
As of now, it is unknown if the plane can be fixed or how much crop damage was done in the landing.