Pilot makes emergency landing at Robert Moses State Park after engine fails

The pilot of a high-performance plane practicing for an upcoming air show was forced to make an emergency landing at Robert Moses State Park Wednesday morning after his engine failed, state officials and the pilot said.

David Windmiller, who flies planes in the annual air show at Jones Beach and similar events, said he needed to quickly find a place to land when the propeller on his Edge 540, a single-seater aircraft, quit.

Windmiller, of Melville, said he took off from Republic Airport around midmorning to rehearse ahead of an air show in Cape May, New Jersey, this weekend. But about eight minutes into the flight, Windmiller, 62, who said he has been flying since he was 14, said it was apparent something was wrong when the propeller stopped rotating.

“That was kind of a clear giveaway,” he said in an interview near where he landed.

Windmiller figured Robert Moses State Park Field 4, which closed on Labor Day, was an opportune place to make an emergency landing. It took him 30 to 45 seconds to maneuver the plane onto the parking lot. The landing was smooth, he said.

“You have time to make a decision and pick where you're going to go, and just make good decisions,” he said. “That's what it's all about.”

Windmiller, a former test pilot who flies three to five times a day for 12- to 13-minutes at a time, said the incident was no more than another day in the air.

“We always leave enough altitude that if there's an emergency, that we're able to find a place,” he said. That’s good planning and that's good, safe pilotage, and that's really what every pilot should be doing.”

Windmiller said he flies in and around the area several times a day out of Republic Airport in East Farmingdale and has made other emergency landings.

"So I'm flying for many, many years, and we practice emergencies, and, unfortunately, I've been through quite a few events," Windmiller said. "So just keep ... calm, and you make logical decisions, and you pick safe attacks on the plane, and you execute them, and that's what you need to do in order to stay safe and make sure that no one else gets hurt."

George Gorman, Long Island regional director of state parks, said park staff saw the airplane landing about 10 a.m. and notified State Park Police, who responded to the scene.

There were no reports of injuries or damage, police said. The FAA confirmed an Edge 540 made an emergency landing in Babylon around 9:30 a.m.

As a test pilot, Windmiller said he had his fair share of engine failures and emergency landings.

He once made an emergency landing on Route 231 in Babylon, and, another time, on a farmer’s field.

“David is an excellent pilot. We've worked with him at Jones Beach for the air show since the very beginning in 2004,” Gorman said. “So it's not surprising that he looked for a location that was clear of any pedestrians, any vehicles, and he landed right here.”

The Edge 540, a competition plane formerly used on the U.S. aerobatic team is “kind of like a Formula One car for the sky,” Windmiller said.

But he was disappointed that the engine, which is fairly new, gave out so fast.

“This is not supposed to happen now,” Windmiller said. “These are good engines that are much safer, and unfortunately, something mechanically failed.”

He said he would not participate in the air show until he learns why the engine conked out and until it is safe for him to fly again. He and a small crew were working on the aircraft Wednesday morning into the afternoon.

Windmiller, who has flown more than 32,000 hours, said he stayed relatively calm the whole time, even after the landing.

“Just find a safe place to land,” he said as advice to other aviators. “Stay calm and execute what you need to do.”