Sunday, July 11, 2021

Piper PA-31-310 Navajo, C-GGQU: Incident occurred July 11, 2021 near Taylorville Municipal Airport (KTAZ), Christian County, Illinois



A pilot of a twin-engine plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a soybean field in rural Christian County Sunday morning.

A distress call came out at 11:50 a.m. about a plane in trouble, said Taylorville police chief Dwayne Wheeler.

The pilot of the Piper PA-31 Navajo landed in a field at 1025 East Road and 1450 North Road halfway between Langleyville and Taylorville, Wheeler said.

The pilot of the plane, who is from Canada, was the lone occupant and did not sustain any injuries.

Christian County sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp said that the pilot's landing gear was down, but the pilot was getting a signal that it "wasn't locked."

There was some damage to the field, Kettelkamp said. A deputy told Kettelkamp that it took the pilot 200 to 300 yards to stop the plane.

The plane was upright, Kettelkamp confirmed. There were no immediate reports of damage to the plane.

An officer with the Mid-America Sport Parachute Club said the pilot maintained contact with a pilot on the ground. Members of club were at the Taylorville Municipal Airport Sunday.

Kettelkamp said the pilot had planned to refuel at the Taylorville airport.

Kettelkamp confirmed that officials from the Federal Aviation Administration were on the scene.

The Navajo was manufactured from 1967 to 1984.


Taylorville Police Department has been getting calls about an aircraft that was in distress and landed in a field. 

That is true the plane landed near Langleyville and Taylorville Police Department did assist the Sheriffs Department. 

Taylorville Fire responded what we do know so far no injuries. 

Taylorville Police Department assisted then left the area all media calls should be directed to the Sheriffs Office. 

Taylorville Police Department

5 comments:

  1. C-GGQU Circled for a long time, gear was apparently locked down okay for a safe bean field landing. Thank goodness for firm soil and not all of the plot planted for corn.

    https://flightaware.com/live/flight/CGGQU

    Photo, as landed, looking good:
    https://www.wandtv.com/news/plane-makes-emergency-landing-in-taylorville/article_4edb4af6-e297-11eb-9da1-ab94a50d09fb.html

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    1. Landed at Taylorville on the way down to Florida, too.

      https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=c05635&lat=37.876&lon=-91.884&zoom=4.5&showTrace=2021-06-13&trackLabels

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  2. Replies
    1. Read the article link referenced:

      "Goodall said when Friesen was on final approach to the airport, the plane encountered an engine malfunction."

      ^^Story is that he was planning on refueling. I'll bet a steak dinner he ran out of fuel.

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  3. A couple days later, the police blocked roads so they could tow him back to the airport. He then departed back north, lucky fella.

    ReplyDelete