By Shereen Siewert
A pilot with engine trouble who made an emergency landing Wednesday morning after leaving Central Wisconsin Airport was not injured, according to the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department.
After fixing his aircraft, the pilot took off hours later from a makeshift runway in the field and continued on his way to Eau Claire.
The Marathon County 911 Communications Center took a report of a downed aircraft just before 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. The plane went down in a field about five miles west of CWA with a single occupant.
Deputies searching the area connected with the pilot about an hour later, who relayed his location near the intersection of Skyview Road and Hwy. 153 in the town of Emmet. The pilot was not injured and the single-engine aircraft was not damaged.
Police say the pilot was leaving CWA, flying to Eau Claire when the engine lost power, forcing the emergency landing in the field.
After repairing the engine the pilot worked with the farmer who owns the field to create a makeshift runway for takeoff, but the pilot was unable to get up to the speed required. Deputies then briefly shut down a section of Hwy. 153, at about 4:37 p.m., and the pilot used the highway as a runway for a successful takeoff.
Information will be forwarded to the Federal Aviation Administration for review.
