'Don't Cash The Insurance Check Yet'

It was a walk in the park. So says pilot Paul Dudley, after he safely landed his Cessna 172 in Brooklyn's Drier Offerman Park Tuesday.

"This was tailor-made," the 51-year-old pilot said. "I couldn't have asked for a better place to land -- except an airport."

Dudley is the director for Linden Municipal Airport in New Jersey, and he’s got quite a sense of humor about the whole affair. The first thing he did after landing was to call his wife, and tell her not to cash the insurance check just yet.

The New York Daily News reports Dudley was flying from Westhampton on Long Island back to Linden. He said the engine started giving out as he neared Coney Island.

In what Dudley called a big nothing, he put the Cessna down in the park because he didn’t want to cross New York Harbor with the engine acting up.

"I didn't want to risk taking it across the water," he said. "I saw this open field of grass and decided to land it."

The FAA is investigating the incident... and Dudley was quick to put the incident in perspective. "The most dangerous part of flying is getting to the airport," he said.

We assume he meant "driving" to the airport...

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 2184E        Make/Model: C172      Description: 172, P172, R172, Skyhawk, Hawk XP, Cutla
  Date: 11/14/2006     Time: 1530

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

LOCATION
  City: BROOKLYN   State: NY   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  ACFT FORCE LANDED ON A FIELD IN A PARK, BROOKLYN, NY

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

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Landing      Operation: OTHER

  Departed:                             Dep Date:    Dep. Time:     
  Destination:                          Flt Plan:              Wx Briefing: 
  Last Radio Cont: 
  Last Clearance: 

  FAA FSDO: FARMINGDALE, NY  (EA11)               Entry date: 11/15/2006

FMI: www.faa.gov