Pilots safe after emergency plane landing in southern DeKalb

DeKALB - A student pilot and his instructor are safe after they had to make an emergency landing in rural DeKalb Thursday evening, said DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a plane that had gone down shortly before 5:10 p.m. Thursday near the Afton Forest Preserve in the 12000 block of McGirr Road in rural southern DeKalb.

No injuries were reported in the emergency plane landing. A 34-year-old pilot and his 18-year-old student pilot had taken off from Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

“There was a student pilot flying the plane, and they were low on fuel,” Sullivan said. “They ran out of fuel and they did an emergency landing south of Perry Road north of Hinckley.”

The plane was inspected briefly for damages, and none were identified.

“They had fuel brought back to them and then used the road as a runway and took back off,” Sullivan said.

Sheriff’s deputies assisted as the plane used McGirr Road to take back off into the air.