Cessna 175 Skylark, N6695E: Incident occurred January 13, 2021 in Marion, Williamson County, Illinois

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Springfield, Illinois

Aircraft landed on median of Interstate 57 due to engine issues. 

Kilo Aviation LLC

https://registry.faa.gov/N6695E

Date: 13-JAN-21

Time: 02:28:00Z

Regis#: N6695E

Aircraft Make: CESSNA

Aircraft Model: 175

Event Type: INCIDENT

Highest Injury: NONE

Aircraft Missing: No

Damage: NONE

Activity: PERSONAL

Flight Phase: EN ROUTE (ENR)

Operation: 91

City: MARION

State: ILLINOIS

WILLIAMSON CO., Illinois (WSIL) -- A small plane made an emergency landing Wednesday evening just after 8:30 p.m. on Interstate 57 about 10 miles south of Marion coming to rest in the median.

The pilot was uninjured and the plane sustained minimal damage according to Illinois State Police.

The flight tracking site, FlightAware.com, shows the plane is a 1959 Cessna 175 Skylark, a 4-seater, 1-engine plane, registered to Kilo Aviation out of Lacon, Illinois.

The plane had departed from Union City, TN on path for Peoria. The plane was trying to reach Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois when the plane's engine lost power, and needed to make an emergency landing.

Traffic in the northbound lanes of the interstate was closed for around 20 minutes as a tow truck removed the plane.

https://wsiltv.com

MARION, Illinois — The owner of a Lacon-based aviation company avoided injury when forced to land an airplane in the median of a southern Illinois interstate highway.

The incident happened about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on Interstate 57, about six miles south of Marion.

Kent Cook was flying a private aircraft when engine trouble developed. He guided the single-engine plane onto the I-57 median near milepost 47 in Williamson County, according to the Illinois State Police district based in Du Quoin.

The plane, a 1958 Cessna 175 Skylark, sustained minimal damage. Cook was the only occupant.

"It was the best possible outcome," he said Thursday.

Cook said he was flying from Union City, Tenn., to Lincoln. He was transporting the plane as part of his business, Kilo Aviation.

The company is based at Marshall County Airport in Lacon. It manages anywhere from four to 12 private planes.

WSIL-TV (3) in Harrisburg reported where the plane was registered.

Cook said he was about one-half hour into the flight when he realized there was a problem with the four-seat plane. He said planes of that vintage still are able to fly routinely.

https://www.pjstar.com