Pilot unharmed as plane makes emergency landing in Sonoma Valley field

The pilot of a small, private plane was uninjured Saturday afternoon after making an emergency landing in a field south of Kenwood, authorities said.

The plane landed in the field just off Highway 12 and west of Dunbar Road at 12:20 p.m., said Kenwood Fire District Chief Daren Bellach.

The pilot, whose name was not available, told emergency personnel that he had engine trouble, Bellach said. “He nosed (the plane) right into a ditch,” he said.

The FAA identified the aircraft as a homebuilt STOL 701, which stands for “short takeoff and landing,” said spokesman Ian Gregor. The agency will investigate the incident, Gregor said.

Bellach said the plane was heading toward Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport. The FAA registry listed the plane’s owner out of Petaluma.

The incident comes after a Sonoma Valley plane crash Thursday that killed a University of San Francisco history professor and injured his two children and caretaker.