Smoking plane lands safely at Knox Airport

OWLS HEAD — It was just another day at the office for Maine Marine Patrol pilot John C. Fetterman on Monday.

Fetterman was flying a state-owned Cessna 185 from Augusta to Knox County Regional Airport at Owls Head while on routine patrol. At about 1:15 p.m. over Jefferson, the cabin filled with heavy smoke.

Fetterman notified the Owls Head airport and fire equipment was ordered to the runway. The pilot flew the plane about 18 miles in 15 minutes and landed without incident.

“I shut off the electrical system and there was no real danger. It was just smoke and no flames. If it caught on fire, I would have shut off the fuel and put it down in a lake. There are a lot of lakes in the area,” the pilot said.

After a quick examination at the Owls Head airport, Fetterman guessed that the engine block had cracked. The engine had only 120 hours of use.

In nine years with the state agency, Fetterman said he faced a few engine failures, but never had the cabin filled with smoke. “It was no big deal,” the pilot said.