Sunday, December 30, 2012

Plane from Michigan lands along Baumann Road, near Greenville Airport (KGRE), Illinois

HIGHLAND — At 2:20 p.m. Sunday residents along rural Baumann Road about four miles east of this village heard a single engine plane slow down, and then cut its engine.

The aircraft, which took off in Michigan bound for Arkansas, had simply run out of fuel, said Highland Police Department Ptl. Rob Horner.

"We got a call from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) that a pilot had run out of fuel and was about to land," Horner said. "The next call we got was from a passerby who said there was a plane on the road."

The impromptu landing went without a hitch, said Horner. A message went out to the nearby Greenville Airport, who sent a driver with a five-gallon can of aviation fuel that allowed the unidentified pilot to fire up his craft's engine and take off again.

Baumann Road's intersection with St. Rose Road is near where the landing took place.