A fast thinking pilot, quick response from airport and law enforcement, and some out of the box thinking turned an emergency landing for a crop duster into a prolonged inconvenience.
At approximately 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, the Scotts Bluff County communications center was notified that an aircraft had gone down in a farm field near County Road 27 and County Road J.
On arrival, the pilot of a crop duster reported that he had engine trouble and was unable to make it back to the airport. The pilot was able to land the airplane on the edge of a field in an area immediately adjacent to a large irrigation canal.
The pilot was not injured, and the aircraft was not damaged, and there was little to no crop damage. Mechanics from the airport responded and replaced a part that had failed. The crop dusting company coordinated the response of a man with a road grader. He cleared a path that was long enough to serve as a runway. The pilot was able to take off from that location at approximately 4 p.m. and return safely to the airport.
The Sheriff’s Office notified the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the Federal Aeronautics Administration (FAA) and assisted their personnel with information and coordinated interviews regarding the incident.
The Scottsbluff Rural Fire Department and the Western Nebraska Regional Airport Fire Department both responded to assist.
