Close call after a man took the controls during the school’s promotional flight
Local
Investigators said there was no deliberate intent to crash the plane, which landed safely at Norwood Airport.
A small plane made an emergency landing in Norwood on Friday morning after a passenger grabbed the controls during the flight, officials said.
Norwood Police say the pilot landed the Cessna 172 at Norwood Memorial Airport “out of an abundance of caution” after a 60-year-old man grabbed the control yoke and “attempted to move it”. Police described the passenger as a person with a developmental disability who was on a promotional flight with his sister.
Investigators said there was no deliberate intent to crash the plane.
“The pilot, who is an experienced flight instructor, was able to maintain control of the aircraft [and] maintained contact with air traffic controllers,” Norwood Police said in a news release.
The Cessna landed safely at 11:45 a.m. There were no injuries and the aircraft suffered no damage, the statement said.
No criminal charges should be filed. However, the incident was reported to the Federal Aviation Administration and MassDOT as is standard procedure, officials said.
The flight was part of a special promotion from Horizon Aviation, a flight school that operates out of Norwood Airport and TF Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island.
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