Falmouth Police/CWN
David Curran/Satellite News Service/CWN
FALMOUTH – A small plane made an emergency landing on a beach in Falmouth. It happened around 2:30 PM near Black Beach off Drift Road. No injuries or damage was reported. The FAA will investigate the incident.
Flight tracking shows the aircraft, a Cessna 170, took off from Falmouth and flew to Northampton Airport in Northampton, MA. It was returning to Falmouth when the pilot landed on the beach after running out of fuel according to Falmouth Police.
From Falmouth Fire=Rescue: Around 2:20 PM Thursday afternoon, a single-engine Cessna 170 aircraft made an emergency landing on the southern end of Black Beach in West Falmouth. The pilot was forced to make the landing when the plane ran out of fuel. He was traveling from Western Massachusetts to the Falmouth Airpark in East Falmouth. The pilot reported that the headwinds severely impacted the fuel consumption. The aircraft landed safely, with no damage and no injuries to the pilot, who was the only one on board. The beach was clear of beachgoers, and it was low tide at the time.
Falmouth Fire Rescue personnel, along with the Falmouth Police Departmentt, were on site. There are no environmental issues from the landing. After consultation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the plane was refueled with assistance from Falmouth Airpark personnel. The aircraft was able to take off from the beach just before 3:00 pm and resumed the flight to Falmouth Air Park, before high tide, where it landed safely.Falmouth Police and Fire responded to the scene, and officials confirmed there is no danger to the public and no apparent environmental impact. At this time, limited information is available.
