Small plane makes emergency landing in farm field short of SHD; no injuries

WEYERS CAVE - A flight instructor and his student had to make an emergency landing in a Weyers Cave farm field Tuesday afternoon after their single-engine plane lost power after taking off from the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport, authorities said.

Both walked away from the Piper Cherokee Arrow with no injuries.

Virginia State Police Sgt. Sean Simmons said the plane itself was intact after it landed in a field at 1055 Craig Shop Road near SHD.

Simmons said the propeller and a landing gear were damaged.

Emergencies crews were first alerted while the plane was still in the air. When it became clear the plane went down, rescuers were guided to the location by another pilot who circled his plane over the site.

“We had a report from another aircraft that a plane went down east of airport New Hope and Grottoes,” according to Greg Campbell, executive director for the SHD.

Campbell said a plane from SHD spotted the downed plane and confirmed there were two occupants with no injuries.

"The plane lost engine power shortly after take off," Campbell said.

The plane appears to have been from Blue Ridge Aviation. The instructional pilot at the scene of the emergency was identified as Chris Miller, who declined to be interviewed.

A farm worker said the plane was flying low as it came in and just cleared some power lines before making the emergency landing in a small valley near a stream.

Virginia State Police will take over the investigation since the crash did not occur on SHD property, Campbell said.

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