Saturday, September 17, 2011

Piper J3C Cub: Fuel exhaustion. Pilot uninjured after emergency landing in ditch near Dunkirk - upstate New York.

A Syracuse-area pilot escaped injury when his small, single-engine plane crash landed this morning near the Thruway in Dunkirk.

Edmund T. Coughlin, 49, of Manlius, told authorities he was en route from the Syracuse area to Dart Airport in Mayville when the Piper J3C ran out of gas, the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office said.

Coughlin tried to land the plane on the Thruway Golf Range on Bennett Road, adjacent to the Thruway.

Richard Kullberg, owner of the golf range, was giving a golf lesson when he noticed the low-flying plane.

"That propeller isn't turning," Kullberg told the golf students. "This plane is going to crash at the end of the golf range."

Instead, the plane just missed the range and crash landed in a drainage ditch along the north edge of the property at about 11 a.m.

"He almost made the range," said Kullberg, noting that the plane also missed the wooded area abutting the property. "If you were ever going to try to ditch your plane, this is a perfect spot."

Kullberg jumped into a golf cart and called 911, as he drove to the crash site at the edge of the range. Three of the people taking lessons at the time happened to be medical students, and ran to the crash scene, as well.

Coughlin, meanwhile, was able to free himself from the plane. He was not injured, officials said.

"He was actually OK," Kullberg said, "a little shooken up, but OK."

Chautauqua County sheriff's deputies, State Police, Dunkirk fire and emergency medical personnel responded to the crash. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration were also at the scene today.

No charges are pending, officials said.

Coughlin apparently was having trouble with his gas gauge, Kullberg said.

"He's just so lucky," Kullberg said. "It was amazing. I told him, "Do you realize how lucky you are?'"

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