Cessna 182Q, N97968: Incident occurred July 11, 2014 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

CHELMSFORD -- Howie Wallach was taking his daily walk Friday afternoon near the high school athletic fields when he heard an airplane. 

But because several people fly model planes over there near the softball field, Wallach didn't think much of it. Next thing he knew, a small plane was making an emergency landing at the Chelmsford High School athletic field and he was dialing 911.

"This is the most action we see around here in Chelmsford," said Wallach, 51, who lives on nearby Pilgrim Road.

Wayland's Frederic Moses was piloting a small plane Friday afternoon when he made an emergency landing at the Chelmsford High School field because of mechanical problems in its engine, according to police.

Moses, the lone person on board, was not injured, he told The Sun. No bystanders were injured, according to police.

"Thank god the guy's OK," Wallach said. "He seemed totally in control while landing it. He did a fine job. The guy was cool as hell."

Chelmsford police responded at 4:12 p.m. for a report of a plane down in the field on Graniteville Road. On arrival, officers found a single engine 1979 Cessna 182Q had landed.

There was no fire, fuel leakage or environmental impact of any kind, police said.

The plane, tail number N97968, took off at Minute Man Air Field in Stow on Friday afternoon and planned to return to Stow but experienced mechanical problems in the engine, which forced the emergency landing, according to the pilot's statements to police.

"This is kind of being made out to be a bigger deal than it really is," said Moses, 66, speaking over the phone a few hours after the emergency landing. "Things happen periodically, and it happened to me this time.

"The plane landed without damage, I wasn't hurt and nobody else was hurt, so everything worked out very well," added Moses, a recreational flyer for 30 years.

Moses, who's been piloting this plane for about 15 years, said there were sudden engine problems, and the large field in Chelmsford made the most sense to land it safely, he said. Moses said the mechanical issue was "nothing obvious."

"I'm not sure what it was, and that's going to be determined," Moses said. "We'll find out."

Representatives at Minute Man Air Field could not be reached Friday evening.

Chelmsford police secured the scene and notified the Massachusetts Port Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration, which will investigate the emergency landing.

Flat-bed tow trucks were on the scene Friday evening waiting to carry the plane away to an unknown location to continue the investigation.

"Thank God he was able to land it safely, and thank God nobody was out here," said Dawn Callahan, who lives around the corner. "This spot is usually full of kids, so it's really lucky."

Story and Photo:  http://chelmsfordstories.blogspot.com
 
AIRCRAFT FORCE LANDED IN A FIELD NEAR A HIGH SCHOOL, CHELMSFORD, MA

Flight Standards District Office: FAA Boston FSDO-61

http://www.asias.faa.gov/N97968 

MOSES FREDRIC P: http://registry.faa.gov/N97968