Pilot Walks Away From Off-Airport Landing

The manager of a Poplar Bluff, MO, car dealership was uninjured after making an emergency landing in a field near Carbondale, IL on Friday.

Columbia 400 File Photo

Larry Hillis was flying a Columbia 400 registered to his Dodge dealership. He said he was at cruise at about 10,000 feet on his way home from a trip to Indiana when the airplane began to lose oil pressure. ATC directed him to the airport at Carbondale, IL, but during his descent, the engine seized, forcing Hillis to declare an emergency and attempt the landing. He told the Southeast Missourian that he considered landing on a road, but was unable to go for the pavement due to powerlines. So he put the plane down in what he described as an "extremely soft" field ... a pasture belonging to Southern Illinois University.

Hillis said he tried to stop as quickly as possible, but he crossed the road at about 10 miles per hour before bringing the airplane to a stop. He walked away from the incident uninjured.

The Columbia 400 was not so lucky. Its wings were disassembled before it was picked up with a crane and placed on a flatbed truck to be removed from the pasture. Hillis called a friend who is also a pilot to come to Carbondale and take him home to Poplar Bluff.

Hillis has been flying for over two years. He said his training helped him make the emergency landing and walk away.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov