Lang
10/21/24
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office has identified the pilot of an airplane that made an emergency landing on Highway 218 Saturday afternoon.
According to a sheriff’s office news release, at about 5:45 p.m. John Ockenfels of Swisher ran out of gas and set the Stearman model biplane down on southbound Highway 218 just north of the Melrose Avenue exit. The aircraft landed safely and was steered into the drainage ditch to avoid blocking traffic. Ockenfels was uninjured, and the plane sustained no damage.
The plane was refueled, and the Iowa State Patrol closed the roadway for approximately one minute while the aircraft took off and returned to the nearby Iowa City Municipal Airport, which is from where Ockenfels had just taken off.
The FAA was notified about the incident.