NORTH STONINGTON, CT (WFSB) -
The pilot of a single-engine plane and his passenger are bruised and shaken, but alive after their plane's fuel alarm went off and all they could do was brace for a crash landing in a cornfield.
The Cessna 180 was midway between Teterboro, NJ, and New Bedford, MA, when it made the crash landing.
Neighbor Rebecca Cleveland said the pilot was upset and banged up, but thankful he made a second pass to avoid her home.
The pilot, Andrew Sterns, 45, told air traffic controllers that the plane ran out of fuel and alarms started going off.
Cleveland said Sterns told her he about five miles before he was to run out of fuel.
"He first tried to come over our house, but saw the house and changed directions so he wouldn't hit it," she said.
When the alarms sounded Sterns realized he didn't have enough fuel to make it to Westerly, RI, so he decided to make a southerly approach into a cornfield.
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration visited the crash site on Thursday and checked out the plane to investigate.
The investigation into the incident could take up to six months to complete.
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