Aircraft Lands in Bloomington Hay Field

A single engine plane made an emergency landing in a hay field off of Birch Road just west of Bloomington Sunday. At around 10:30am, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a plane that had experienced engine troubles and had to make an emergency landing. Farmers were in the process of harvesting hay in the field and there were several windrows of hay that helped guide the aircraft to the ground acting like a runway. The pilot, 61 year old Charles Diggins of Middleboro, Massachusetts, was able to land the craft safely without causing any damages to the plane and without any injuries to himself or his passenger, 72 year old Warren Roberts of Makawao, Hawaii. The two were flying from Poplar Grove, Illinois to Livingston, Montana. The plane was loaded onto a flatbed trailer and taken to the Prairie du Chien airport for inspection and repairs. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and the Prairie du Chien Police Department assisted with taking the plane to the airport. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office is working with the FAA in their ongoing investigation into the incident.