Pilot makes emergency landing near Clark County airport

NEW CARLISLE — UPDATE: 6:50 p.m.

A pilot was forced to make an emergency landing near a Clark County airport on Saturday.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, this happened at a field at Brubaker and Whitefish Courts near the Andy Barnhart Memorial Airport.

The pilot was in good spirits despite the sudden landing.

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Matt Kiefer told News Center 7’s Malik Patterson that he was thankful that he was not hurt and that there was no serious damage to the plane.

He landed a replica of a 1916 Newport French Fighter Plane at a grass field.

Kiefer told Patterson that he has owned and flown the plane for four years.

The plane is made with modern parts, and he tries to fly at least once every two months.

Kiefer was flying to the airport for a picnic on Saturday and planned to take a few laps around the area.

He said that he also had a friend follow him just in case anything happened. But then Kiefer started to lose power.

“I let the other airplanes on the frequency know that I was going down,” he said. “A friend of mine was following me, and he provided an air cover up above so people could find where I went down, and people back at the airport heard me on the radio.”

Patterson says that Kiefer is also the plane’s mechanic. He said that he will be back later to find what malfunctioned on his plane.

Kifer said he hopes this was the first and only time this happens.

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