Minor injuries in forced landing at Wood County airport

WOOD COUNTY, Ohio — A forced landing in a field near the Wood County Regional Airport on Wednesday resulted in minor injuries to a student and a Federal Aviation Administration official, according to a spokesperson for Bowling Green State University.

The spokesperson emphasized that the situation was not a crash. A BGSU student and an FAA-designated pilot examiner were flying in the multi-engine aircraft near Bowling Green at the time of the forced landing, which happened around 12:30 p.m. and to the north of the airport.

The student, who BGSU described as nearing graduation, was being evaluated for a commercial pilot license. The evaluation required landing an aircraft during a simulated engine failure.

“During this simulation, the FAA examiner took over the aircraft, landing the plane in a field adjacent to the airport,” the spokesperson said. “Both the student and examiner experienced minor injuries and are reported to be doing well.”

The student was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.

“Bowling Green State University is grateful for the quick actions and response and will continue to work with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and FAA,” the spokesperson said.

The Wood County Regional Airport, located northeast of downtown Bowling Green, serves as the home base for the BGSU School of Aviation. The airport has two runways and supports thousands of training flights each year.

The facility has a long history in northwest Ohio aviation. It opened in 1939 and was later used by BGSU during the Navy’s V-12 training program in World War II. After the war, it transitioned to local control and remains in operation today as a public-use airport.

BGSU’s School of Aviation is among Ohio’s largest aviation programs, training students on a fleet of modern aircraft and simulators from its Bowling Green Flight Center, which opened in 2015.