Instructor, students on board during uncommon problem

By KIM SMITH DEDAM

NORTH HUDSON -- An emergency plane landing on the Adirondack Northway Wednesday was the work of Seneca College flight instructor Michael Denning.

State Police Troop B Capt. John Tibbitts said the 92 Beechcraft F33A Model had a single engine that failed.

"The plane suffered an engine failure and thereby became a glider," Tibbitts said. "The pilot saw a straight section of roadway and landed it.

"It was a very good landing."

No one was injured and no property damaged in an emergency landing that first-responders described as perfect placement in the center of both I-87 northbound lanes, near mile-marker 96 in North Hudson, not far from High Peaks Welcome Center.

The road is a narrow two-lane asphalt ribbon surrounded by mountains of wilderness in the dense Adirondack Park.

TROUBLE RARE

Dominic Totino, director of academics and operations at the School of Aviation and Flight Technology at Seneca College in Toronto, said Denning, 24, of Ontario, did exactly as he was trained to do.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Totino said the plane experienced rare catastrophic failure in the engine.

"We've been operating those airplanes since 1992, and this is the first occurrence of engine failure we've seen."

The college has provided aviation training for 40 years, and this was its first instance of emergency landing like that.

Federal Aviation Administration officials were conducting an official inspection of the plane Thursday morning, Totino said.

Two Seneca College students flew as crew with Denning, but officials would not release their names.