Pilot makes emergency landing on Capital Circle

A plane made an emergency landing early Thursday morning under odd circumstances that raised some eyebrows among Leon County Sheriff’s deputies.

“It was flying at night in an unfamiliar area and landed in the road,” said Leon County Sheriff Mike Wood of the unexpected landing of a single-engine Bellanca 17 on Capital Circle Southwest near the Tallahassee International Airport.

With his small plane running out of gas, the pilot, who was flying from Texas to Key West, attempted to land at the long-closed Highway 27 airport for refueling around 2:10 a.m., according to LCSO Sgt. Scott Sullivan.

He then changed course and tried to make it the 10 miles to the Tallahassee International Airport, Sullivan said.

The pilot was not injured when he brought the plane down on Capital Circle just outside of the runway fence. The left wing hit a bank of trees causing the plane to spin and come to rest on the eastern shoulder of the road, which was closed for hours as first responders investigated the scene. It was reopened to traffic at about 7:30 a.m.

Wood said considering the concern surrounding the plane’s flight pattern, canine units were brought in to canvass the plane. The dogs’ response suggested to deputies the possibility of contraband, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials later searched the vessel and found nothing.

“I’m satisfied it’s a non-issue,” Wood said. “We had some legitimate concerns, and we acted on those and nothing turned up so we’re going to move on.”

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane is registered to a Rush Inc., a ski company in Ruidoso, New Mexico. The pilot’s name was not released Thursday and attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful.

LCSO is coordinating the investigation along with FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.