According to Katelynn Horan, her dad and herself are fine. She insists that it was not a crash landing and that it was only an “emergency landing. ” (Most pilots and the FAA consider an emergency landing in a field during which the plane does not get damaged an emergency landing; if the plane gets damaged it is considered a crash landing.)

Plane with it’s left landing gear collapsed

Katelynn Horan: “we really don’t know what caused the engine to quit. The airplane mechanic and the FAA are investigating. ” According to Katelynn, she and her dad who is a school teacher and was piloting the plane were the only people in the plane. “The purpose of the mission was dinner at the Southbridge airport, the mission was chili dogs and soda.”

Some of the engine enclosure panels are ripped off

Mark E Horan, who lives on 31 Dickerman Ave, Windsor Locks, CT 06096, has his plane registered under the N-number 33078. The plane is a PIPER J5A (Fixed wing single engine, Category: Land, Seats: 3, Weight: Up to 12,499 Pounds, Speed: 77 mph), Engine: CONT MOTOR A&C 75 SERIES (75 HP) (Reciprocating), Serial Number: 5-426, Year manufactured: 1940, Airworthiness Date: 06/28/1955. Click here to see the FAA Registry entry.

authentic WWII writing on the right side of the plane

Mark’s plane bears the name Mark E. Horan as the pilot with rank second Lieutenant, and crew chief Ed Baranski with rank Technical Sergeant painted to the right side of the WWII vintage plane. The plane is named Lil’ Miss Katelynn after Mr. Horan’s daughter Katelynn who was flying with him at the time of the incident.

Today around 11:00 hours I received the following email with additional information:

Dear Mr. Frei;

I understand my daughter responded to your e-mail but I have no clue what she told you.

The airplane is a 1940 J-5A Piper Cub Cruiser. It is painted as one of four identical planes that were in the Panama Canal Zone when Pearl Harbor was bombed and they were requisitioned by the the US Army Air Force.

We flew from our home field of Skylark Airpark in East Windsor CT to Southbridge Airport to eat dinner at Jim's Flying Dinner. We left at 1715 (5:15 PM) to return home. Ten miles from the airport the engine started acting up and we turned back towards Southbridge climbing to 2,500 feet and flying from field to field until the engine quit for an as yet unknown reason. The choice to force-land in the field was done per my pilot's training and, for a Piper Cub (max speed 75 mph and can fly at 35 mph) would have been fairly routine" except for the fact that the field was full of very high grass (and I could not recognize that from the air) and as the plane was settling in at landing the grass grabbed the left landing gear and effectively pulled it from the air and caused it to ground-loop to the left, damaging the left landing gear.

Both my 14-year old daughter, Katelynn, and myself were okay (my daughter cut her nose on the instrument panel) and the airplane is not seriously damaged. We will be disassembling the plane and trucking it out later today.

Any other questions, feel free to ask although I will probably be too busy to respond today.

Mark E. Horan

August 28, 2009, Peter Frei

Vintage Plane crash-lands in Holland.