Airplane occupants safe after emergency landing in soybean field

SHEFFIELD — It was a happy ending for all but the soybeans. A small airplane crash-landed last Tuesday, Sept. 15, into a farm field in Sheffield at Route 41 and Kelsey Road. All five passengers and the pilot walked away from the emergency landing and no one required hospitalization. The plane was destroyed in the crash.

The field is owned by The Nature Conservancy, a national organization with a chapter in Sheffield, and farmed by Bill Turner of Egremont. The plane initially came down in the soybean field (formerly a corn field) on what is known as the old Bartholomew farm (formerly owned by the family of Ned Bartholomew), according to Jason Miner, the Geoffrey Hughes Western Massachusetts Program Director for The Nature Conservancy.

It traversed the soybean field and crossed Kelsey Road (hitting a tree and a stone wall) and ended up on another Nature Conservancy lot, known as the Kilbon property, which is an open field that is home to a wide variety of wildflowers.

The plane, owned by North American Flight Services of Saratoga, N.Y., was used to transport employees of partner company North American Industrial Services (a company that cleans power plants) to and from job sites. Five men were passengers on the flight, which was piloted by 30-year-old Larry Davis, an experienced pilot who works for North American Flight Services.

The men were returning to Saratoga from a job in Farmingdale, Long Island, in New York when the pilot noticed that there was a fire on the belly of the airplane, a small-engine Cesna 208 that can fit up to eight passengers, depending on how the seats are configured.

Davis apparently tried to make it to Walter Koladza Airport in Great Barrington. When he realized he couldn’t make it, he turned around and headed for The Nature Conservancy field.

“He was only a half mile from the old Gus Graf landing strip, which is a mapped field but is no longer used as a landing strip,� said William Devoti, a member of the Housatonic Camera Club who was hiking in a field with his cameras when he came upon the crash site. Graf, who died about a decade ago, was a legendary early pilot who flew out of Great Barrington, North Canaan and other airports, Devoti said. Graf’s original pilot’s license had been signed by Orville Wright.

“If he’d been able to make that field, the plane would probably still be flying today,� Devoti said. “But he must have realized he didn’t have the altitude to make it that far.�

Davis brought the plane down in the field, about 200 feet from the guest house of John Alexander and Emily Fisher, who were apparently not at their home at the time. All houses within a half mile of the crash site were evacuated and nearby roads were closed as  Sheffield police, Sheffield firefighters, Great Barrington Police, Massachusetts State Police, a Berkshire County hazardous materials team and Southern Berkshire Volunteer Ambulance Squad members made certain the scene was secure.

The plane was carrying explosive materials and detonators, which are used to break up slag at the power plants, according to Chris Scaringe, who is in-house counsel for North American Flight Services and North American Industrial Services.

The materials used are ammonium nitrate (a fertilizer) and a liquid called nitromethane, which is similar to kerosene, Scaringe said. The materials are carried in separate 1.5-ounce tubes and mixed at the job site. The plane was carrying about a gallon of the materials, left over from the job in Farmingdale.

There were also small explosive charges in the plane, which are used to ignite the other two materials. All are packed in approved containers; everything is clearly labeled and kept separate in fireproof and explosion-proof containers, Scaringe said.

As soon as the pilot and passengers were evacuated from the plane, the EMS crews were told what was aboard the plane. A specially trained crew was called in and the explosives were detonated in the field at around 8:45 p.m.

The Cesna is owned by North American and had recently been refurbished, Scaringe said. The Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an investigation into what caused the fire; right now it looks like it was mechanical failure in the engine.

“The pilot did an incredible job, to bring everyone to safety,� Scaringe said. “No one was hospitalized.�

A North American employee came down from Saratoga to pick up the five passengers and pilot, who are all taking time off from work. They drove back to upstate New York.

As for the soybeans and the field, The Nature Conservancy’s Miner said, “It was an emergency landing and we’re happy that everyone walked away and nothing more catastrophic happened.�