Bernie Lyons, a mechanic at the Portage County Airport, talks on a cell phone while a Kent State Univerisity aircraft sits behind him after making an emergency landing. The plane was experiencing engine problems and the pilot Shawn Porter was forced to ma

Credit: Jason Hall

A flight instructor and a Kent State student flying a single-engine Cessna plane were forced to make an emergency landing in a Cuyahoga Falls cornfield yesterday afternoon. No one was injured.

Pilot Shawn M. Porter and passenger Troy Rollinson, a junior aeronautics major, experienced engine trouble and were forced to land the airplane in a field west of state Route 8 near 1038 West Steels Corners Road, according to Highway Patrol officials.

There was no damage to the plane, which is owned by Kent State.

“They seemed to do everything right in getting it down,” said Ron Kirksey, executive director of University Communications. “It sounds like they handled it well.”

The plane was returning to Portage County when it started having trouble, according to the Highway Patrol. No further information about the engine problem was available.

The FAA contacted the Highway Patrol with information that they received an emergency beacon from an unknown aircraft, said Sgt. Bill Haymaker of the Highway Patrol. State troopers were then dispatched to the area where the beacon was reported.

The plane landed at approximately 3 p.m.

Kent State contacted a contractor to remove the wings of the plane so that it could be transported on a flatbed truck back to Portage County. University officials were on the scene after the plane landed, Kirksey said.

Contact public affairs reporter Ryan Loew at [email protected].