Cape pilot's plane hits Ripley County garage after emergency landing

DONIPHAN, Mo. — Federal aviation officials were investigating in Ripley County, Missouri, after a single-engine plane embedded itself in a garage when it ran out of fuel and made an emergency landing in a field.

The pilot, a Cape Girardeau man in his 30s, reported to Federal Aviation Association officials he had been in Texas earlier in the day and was en route to the Doniphan airport, Ripley County Sheriff Mike Barton said.

“My understanding is he was coming here to visit his grandpa, the city of Doniphan’s mayor, Terry Cooper,” Barton said.

The sheriff said the pilot was an experienced one who had “flew in this area before.”

The plane’s registration number from the FAA accident report summary indicates the plane was registered to Cape Flyers LLC in Cape Girardeau.

The nose of a single-engine airplane protrudes into a detached garage in Ripley County. The Cape Girardeau pilot apparently ran out of fuel Thursday night en route to the Doniphan, Missouri, airport, resulting in an emergency landing in a field.Submitted to Daily American Republic

Barton said the pilot thought he had enough fuel to reach the airport Thursday night.

“He had it calculated and was just 3.5 air miles too short,” Barton said. “He actually contacted the (Poplar Bluff, Missouri) airport by radio. He was able to give his coordinates and general location.

“Then, that’s when he radioed he was losing power and that he was going down, and he was not going to make it to the airport.”

Airport officials contacted the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Troop E headquarters, Barton said.

Troopers and Ripley County deputies, as well as members of the Doniphan police and fire departments, began searching the roads and fields in that direction, Barton said.

Barton said it was 8:10 p.m. Thursday when the pilot radioed in.

“It wasn’t dark yet, so he could still see. ... The engine never cut off; he just kept losing power,” Barton said. “He was able to spot an open field and touched down. ... It just was not enough space. He couldn’t get stopped in time before he made impact with the garage.”

Barton said the unattached, two-car garage was about 50 yards behind the residence.

The home’s occupants, he said, heard the noise from the impact and went outside to investigate.

The nose and engine of the plane, believed to be a Cessna 182, were embedded inside the garage, Barton said.

“The wings make contact and stopped (the plane) from going into the building,” said Barton, who said the seat-belted pilot was able to get out the plane’s door. The pilot was not injured, he said.

Authorities were on the scene within minutes, Barton said. FAA officials arrived a short time later to conduct their investigation, he said.

Pertinent address:

Doniphan, Mo.