Spring Break
Kent student makes emergency landing in Stow
Allison Smith
Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: News
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A Kent State University airplane made an emergency landing this morning at about 9:45 a.m.
Daniel Dzurec, a freshman flight student, said he was receiving a flying lesson from his instructor when his Cessna 152 airplane lost power.
"[It was a] normal take off. During our climb we lost about half power, a little more, probably down to about 20 percent," Dzurec said.
Rob Dumovic is Dzurec's flight instructor. He said he has been an instructor for 2 years and has been flying airplanes since 2003.
"I immediately took the airplane off the student which is the procedure that we brief before we take off," Dumovic said.
Dumovic said he started to turn back to the airport and made a radio call to let his chief know that they were coming back in. He said he figured out that they weren't going to make it to the airport and began looking for a suitable place to land.
"I saw the high school and I saw Fishcreek Road and Fishcreek was a better option. I lined up going southbound on Fishcreek, we were in the right lane and going with traffic," Dumovic said. "I had to dodge some powerlines and some road signs. We put it in between two sets of traffic, there were some cars behind me and some cars in front of me."
Dumovic said he had to put on the brakes just right so that no one would hit him from behind and he didn't hit anyone in front of him. He coasted the plane up on a street next to Sto-Kent Family Entertainment.
"That's where the engine finally shut off completely," Dumovic said.
Dumovic is a member of the Kent State University flight team that placed seventh as a team in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association flight competition. He said it was strange that this happened to him because he won the power-off landing event which simulates what happened with the airplane today.
"So being a national champion at that and actually having to do it, I'm glad I could," Dumovic said. "The training here at Kent has made me so I am able to perform any time."
Dzurec's mother is Laura Dzurec, Dean of the College of Nursing. She said Dzurec didn't tell her what happened right away. He called her at home and told her he was standing in a parking lot and then told her why.
"If someone had told me this before I spoke to him I'm sure it would have been very different," she said. "He sounded calm. I felt calm."
Mrs. Dzurec said she's not worried about him taking flying lessons. She said anything could happen at any time.
"It's a wonderful opportunity and he just loves it," she said.
Dumovic said it's rare to have to do an emergency landing with a Kent State airplane.
"I was actually surprised. Our maintenance here is top-notch," he said. "For this to happen to an airplane is extremely odd."
Airplane maintenance plans to take the airplane apart to look for what went wrong.
"If we find that there are other airplanes with the problem, then we will definitely fix it," Dumovic said. "We won't let this happen again."
Dzurec said this was only his sixth hour of flying lessons and he needs close to 50 or 60 hours. Dzurec is an aeronautical systems major and aeronautical technologies minor. He said he wants to be an aircraft mechanic and get his engineering degree.
He said he wasn't very afraid when the power started draining.
"Everything kind of shut off at that point and I just kind of focused," Dzurec said."It's certainly a unique experience."
Contact principal reporter Allison Smith at asmith75@kent.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 21
Robert Scovill
posted 6/14/09 @ 8:42 AM EST
Pending the discovery of some catastrophic engine failure, is anyone aware of undetectable water in the fuel tanks of the Cessna 152?
Tests pouring red dyed water into the fuel tanks as the aircraft sat in its normal ground attitude went undetected at the sump drains. (Continued…)
Robert Scovill
posted 6/14/09 @ 11:02 PM EST
This entire thread and the link to the Cessna sump test have been forwarded to the NTSB and a west coast FAA office investigating an engine failure in a Cessna 152 that occurred in California about 3 weeks ago. (Continued…)
Robin Anderson
posted 6/15/09 @ 4:18 PM EST
So, um, what kind of insurance coverage are we talking about here, just incase a KSU student/plane become burried in the rubble of someone's home? Is KSU "self-insured" as they are for Unemployment or Workers' Compensation claims?
Further, just how long might it take any of the airport's aggrieved neighbors to reach an equitable settlement given the various government agencies involved?
Inquisitive minds and folks living near the airport just might want to know. (Continued…)
Robin Anderson
posted 6/16/09 @ 10:21 AM EST
Any wonder why the good folk in the vicinity of the KSU Airport protested the increased runway capacity proposed by the Cartwright Administration of KSU?
So, who, if anyone, was fined and or charged for such an unauthorized use of a public roadway as a landing strip? Snow bans affecting local parking and all. (Continued…)
Robin Anderson
posted 6/16/09 @ 10:23 PM EST
Aw...did I make your widdle-biddy-wip quiver, buttercup?
Fortunately, the KSU Airport ain't in my neighborhood; I wouldn't have had enough money to hire the lawyer necessary to put Queenie and the 8 hundred pound gorilla in their place. (Continued…)
Robin Anderson
posted 6/16/09 @ 10:32 PM EST
Oh, yeah...is that the same FAA that doesn't want to truthfully report the incidents of birds up the wazoo as far as commercial airline flights are concerned? Seems those administrative-policy-wonks have the same respect for the public that the politicians did during the Korean conflict in their hiding the facts about Russian MiG's shooting down American fighter pilots in Korean air space. (Continued…)
Goerge
posted 6/19/09 @ 8:21 AM EST
I can confirm that the airport was there first... thereby everybody complaining about aircraft noise, insurance issues, exploding airplanes, terrorists taking off from KSU airport, etc. (Continued…)
Katie
posted 6/19/09 @ 9:52 AM EST
The article states over and over that the teacher is the one actually landing the airplane. So why is the article titled "Kent student makes emergency landing in Stow"? Wouldn't the most honest title say something like "Teacher successfully lands airplane after failure while student sits and watches"? Titling it the way it is now is pure lies and contradictions. (Continued…)
notanignoramus
posted 6/24/09 @ 2:51 AM EST
Robin,
Look up the fees and specifications on the KSU website. The students pay dearly for their flight lessons, on top of the tuition. Part of those fees covers liability insurance (as do lesson fees at *any* flight school), although it's not necessarily line-itemed. (Continued…)
notanignoramus
posted 6/24/09 @ 3:26 AM EST
Robin Anderson,
Look up the fees and specifications on the KSU website. The students pay dearly for their flight lessons, on top of the tuition. Part of those fees covers liability insurance (as do lesson fees at *any* flight school), although it's not necessarily line-itemed. (Continued…)
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