NEW SALEM — Police, state officials and federal transportation authorities are still investigating Tuesday’s emergency plane landing on a sandbar in the Quabbin Reservation and will determine whether any charges are warranted against the pilot.
The private plane made an emergency landing northwest of Quabbin island “Mount L,” within town boundaries, at around 3 p.m. after the pilot reported having engine troubles. State police say that the pilot, a 42-year-old Newport, R.I., man, was uninjured and that the plane was intact. He was traveling alone. The plane, a Seawind with tail number N89XL, is a 2015 fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft.
The plane was removed by helicopter to Orange Municipal Airport early Wednesday evening.
“At this time, there are no concerns to the water quality,” spokesman Trooper Robert Lima said of the Quabbin Reservoir, which provides drinking water to the Boston metropolitan area.