Plane Will Be Hauled Away On Flatbed

When you need to land in an emergency, you NEED to land... and you can only pray the iced-over lake beneath you is solid.

That was the case for two people flying over the community of Grayslake, IL early Tuesday evening. The Chicago Sun-Times reports the single-engine Cessna 150L had departed Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) in Wheeling, about 20 miles to the south, when the pilot noticed the plane's engine was running rough.

The pilot first attempted to set up for landing at Campbell Airport (C81)... but it soon became clear the plane wouldn't make the airfield, so the pilot then aimed for the town's namesake, Grays Lake, which was frozen over.

In what we imagine was one of that pilot's smoothest, softest landings ever, the C150 alighted on the ice, and came to a stop with no damage to the aircraft. The pilot was then able to taxi over to the rear deck of a home on the lake shore. Both persons onboard the Cessna were uninjured.

"The ice is pretty solid," Grayslake Fire Capt. Peter Nowak said.

So solid, in fact, that as of this writing... the plane is still there. The pilot had originally hoped a mechanic could fix the plane, so it could be flown off the ice... but the Suburban Chicago Daily Herald reports a truck is expected to haul away the plane later this week.

"We had some concerns because they wanted to repair the plane and fly it out," said Grayslake Police Commander Matt McCutcheon. "We were concerned about that because there are homes around the lake."

The 1972 Cessna 150L is owned by Palwaukee Flyers, based at PWK. The identities of the two people onboard have not been released.

IDENTIFICATION
 Regis#: 747KA    Make/Model: C150   Description: 150, A150, Commuter, Aerobat
 Date: 02/17/2009   Time: 2230

 Event Type: Incident  Highest Injury: None   Mid Air: N  Missing: N
 Damage: None

LOCATION
 City: GRAYSLAKE  State: IL  Country: US

DESCRIPTION
 AIRCRAFT ENGINE FAILED, AND FORCE LANDED ON A FROZEN LAKE, GRAYSLAKE, IL

INJURY DATA   Total Fatal:  0
         # Crew:  1   Fat:  0   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 
         # Pass:  1   Fat:  0   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 
         # Grnd:     Fat:  0   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 

WEATHER: SPECI KORD 2225Z 19018G24 10SM SCT050 OVC070 A2975

OTHER DATA
 Activity: Pleasure   Phase: Unknown   Operation: OTHER

 FAA FSDO: LINCOLN, NE (CE09)          Entry date: 02/18/2009

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.palwaukeeflyers.com