Pilot makes landing in Skowhegan field after plane runs out of fuel

SKOWHEGAN — A small single-engine airplane flying from Bangor to Waterville on Friday morning ran out of fuel and landed in a field in Skowhegan.

The Federal Aviation Administration office in Burlington, Mass., called the unplanned landing an “incident,” rather than an accident.

Gail Lattrell, a spokeswoman for the FAA, said the name of the pilot and passenger probably would not be released until next week.

She said there were no injuries and she did not know the extent of damage to the aircraft.

A dispatcher at the Skowhegan Police Department said they received the call about the landing at about 8:25 a.m.

It appeared that the airplane was unable to land at the Waterville airport because of fog, then tried to come down at the Poverty Flats airstrip in Benton. When that failed, the pilot headed for the Central Maine Regional Airport at Norridgewock, but apparently ran out of fuel.

The plane landed in a field about a half mile from C&G Motors on Route 2 in Skowhegan, about five miles from the Norridgewock airport.

Skowhegan Police Officer Deane Tracy went to the scene, but found the pilot and the passenger out of the plane and unhurt. The police department did not have the identity of the pilot or the passenger.

The airplane was reportedly rented from Telford Aviation, but a spokesman for the company said the plane did not belong to them.

The fixed-base operator at the Norridgewock airport said damage to the plane was caused when the craft sunk into the soft earth in the field.