SADSBURY, Lancaster County — A West Bradford pilot and his 9-year-old daughter were uninjured after an emergency landing in an alfalfa field Saturday evening.
Bill Wills and his daughter, Jessie, were flying from Smoketown Airport in Lancaster County to New Garden Airport in southern Chester County when the aircraft experienced mechanical problems.
"We were up in the air and we felt a big bump; we felt a big bump and then my dad said we were gonna go down," said Jessie Wills.
The call for an emergency landing went out to Chester County Airport just after 6 p.m. Rescue teams from western Chester County scrambled to respond.
Jessie Wills, a student at West Bradford Elementary School, was only flying with her dad for the second time. "I didn't cry, I was just screaming," as the plane glided toward the field with no engines, she said.
The airplane landed in the farm field west of Gap Road north of Walker Lane near the village of Gap. "I came out and I screamed, 'I'm alive!'" said Jessie.
When Bill and Jessie got out of the plane, they went to a nearby farm house and explained to the Amish family who lived there what happened.
The family came out to see the plane, which was sitting, in the middle of their alfalfa field, next to their barn.
State police and local fire departments responded to the scene to make sure no one was injured, and to contact the proper authorities for the investigation. A couple of hours later the FAA arrived to inspect the plane.
The day began when Jessie along with her mom, Beverly, and her Aunt Cindy drove to Smoketown Airport from West Bradford to meet Bill, who had flown ahead.
Together, they headed to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm in Ronks, where they said they enjoyed a beautiful day.
They then drove back to Smoketown Airport, where Bill and Jessie got back onto the Cessna 140 two-seater and took off for New Garden. Beverly and Aunt Cindy headed back to their home in West Bradford.
Jessie said she called her mom once safely landed and told her what happened.
"Mom, I'm OK," she said.
Beverly said she didn't believe her daughter. "You're joking," she said.
Then she realized Jessie was not. She said she turned the car around and drove out to the farm to get her daughter and husband.
Bill Wills said he was bringing a mechanic out to the farm today to inspect the airplane and try to fix the trouble. He said he was hoping to fly the 1946 Cessna out.
When the plane first started having mechanical difficulties, Bill said he took the airplane up higher to look for safe places to land. He also switched to the emergency channel on his radio and put out a distress signal.
Fire crews were on alert at Chester County Airport for an airplane in distress when the word came back that the airplane had landed safely in the field.
Two Pennsylvania state troopers and a firefighter walk with pilot Bill Wills (in a Phillies T-shirt) of West Bradford toward the road after Wills made an emergency landing Saturday in an alfalfa field near Gap Road in Sadsbury Township, Lancaster County.
Two Pennsylvania state troopers and a firefighter walk with pilot Bill Wills (in a Phillies T-shirt) of West Bradford toward the road after Wills made an emergency landing Saturday in an alfalfa field near Gap Road in Sadsbury Township, Lancaster County.
An
Amish family is amazed to see a plane had landed on their property
Saturday. The plane's engine failed en route from Smoketown Airport to
New Garden Flying Field. It was flown by Bill Wills of West Bradford
with his 9-year-old daughter, Jessie, as a passenger.
