17-year-old crash-lands plane, walks away

FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. — A 17-year-old pilot in training crash-landed a plane and walked away without a scratch.

Sierra Lund was 400 feet in the air during a solo flight when the plane’s engine quit.

She had just taken off from Atlanta Regional Airport in Peachtree City.

“The engine like sputtered, and it made a really weird sound, and then it just quit,” she said.

Lund spotted a golf course and crash-landed on the 11th fairway. %

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“I mean, when the propeller stopped and I started losing air speed, I pretty much knew I had to put it down somewhere,” she said.

Experienced pilots said you should never pull back on the stick in the emergency Lund faced. She didn’t, and it saved her life.

“I’m proud of her for doing that. I’m proud she was able to remember to do that. I’m thankful for the flight instructor that taught her that,” her father, Kevin Lund, said.

The plane, a Cessna 150, was a little banged up, but Sierra Lund was uninjured.

Sierra Lund is on track to earn her pilot’s license this month. She plans to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Cox Media Group