In Bowdoinham, Maine, a 1947 Cessna 140 made an emergency landing earlier this week. According to the Central Maine Morning Sentinel, the two person plane touched down on Interstate 295 and skidded into a guardrail, nose first, after narrowly missing a vehicle.
John Gayley, pilot of the downed plane, sustained minor injuries to his face and Rodney Voisene, passenger, sustained minor injuries to his arm. Both Gayley and Voisene were taken to a local Maine hospital for care.
The plane took off from Twitchell airport around 9:15am on Tuesday, April 11th and crashed about an hour later. Gayley lives in Bowdoinham, has taken off from this airport multiple times before and knows the area according to a Twitchell airport employee.
#NEW – We've made it to the crash site along 295 south. We've been told pilot walked away after emergency landing. #LiveOnCBS13 pic.twitter.com/VlAlP3CYIc
— Dan Lampariello (@DanWGME) April 11, 2017
The crash caused the plane to begin leaking fuel, requiring clean-up crews to respond to the scene.
Gayley claimed that the engine failed when he attempted to switch fuel tanks mid-flight. A further FAA investigation determined that the plane’s engine had failed because it was low on fuel due to pilot error. Gayley declined to interview via hospital representative.