Airplane Makes Emergency Landing on Hwy 52

By Debbie Gregory
A Portland pilot successfully negotiated an emergency landing on Hwy. 52 West Tuesday, January 30, when the small plane he was in, suddenly quit on him.

According to Fire Chief Troy Brawner, around 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, they received a call that a plane was on the road near Fox Run on Hwy. 52. “Pilot Timmy Cole of Portland, and owner Tony Webster of Macon County, had gone to Florida to pick up the two passenger plane and the pilot left there at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning,” said the Chief. “The pilot said there had been no trouble at all, and that the plane just quit. Officials thought it was either out of gas or it was carburetor freeze.”
Chief Brawner said he had to obtain approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by phone to transport the plane by roll-back to the Lafayette Airport. “The FAA requested nothing be done to the plane till they could get up here the next day and do a routine inspection,” said Brawner.
“The pilot did a good job bringing the plane down on the road and luckily no one was injured,” said Chief. “The pilot was alone in the plane.”
Those responding to the scene were the Macon County Sheriffs Department, Macon County EMS, Lafayette Fire Department, State Highway Department, and the Macon County Chronicle.