Staff Photo by Jacqueline Koch
The Cessna 152 II landed safely in a field this morning in Harrison after the pilot said he experienced engine trouble.
Engine trouble preceded a plane's emergency landing in a field off Thatch Road in Harrison this morning, according to Tony Reavley, Hamilton County Emergency Services Field Services chief.
When the pilot, who is not being identified, realized he was having trouble during the training flight, he made a decision to land the plane in the field, Chief Reavley said.
It was not immediately clear whether the trainee was the pilot or the passenger on the flight that left from Dallas Bay SkyPark in Middle Valley.
"Obviously he made a good choice and made a safe landing," Chief Reavley said.
The plane, a Cessna 152 II, did not sustain any damage and no injuries were reported.
The plane didn’t sound as if its engine was running when it passed over a nearby backhoe operator about 100 yards from where the plane landed.
“There wasn’t no racket with it,” said David O’Daniel, who was running the backhoe.
Hamilton County EMS and the Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department as well as the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene.
Officials from the FAA are in route from Tullahoma, Tenn., Chief Reavley said.
The passenger and the pilot declined comment, saying they wanted to talk to FAA officials first.
Check back at www.timesfreepress.com for additional updates and see tomorrow's Times Free Press for more details.
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If it turns out not to be an engine problem you should look for contaminated fuel. In, fact a simple test should be preformed. Pour sixteen ounces of red dyed water in the fuel tank as the aircraft sits in its normal ground attitude. Then go to the sump drain and see if you can identify and eliminate the same sixteen ounces of red dyed water you just poured in the fuel tank.
The following links illustrate an indicated design flaw about a lack of positive detection of water in the fuel tanks of many Cessna aircraft. In 1983 the NTSB identified a lack of positive detection of water in Cessna rubber bladder fuel tanks. I have identified the lack of positive detection of water in the integral (wet wing) fuel tanks and regular fuel tanks like those in the Cessna 150/152.
http://sumpthis.com/ntsbrecommendationto...
http://sumpthis.com/cessna150andcessna15...
http://sumpthis.com/10292003lettertofaaf...