3 Injured After Plane Attempts Emergency Landing and Crashes on Ohio Middle School Football Field

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Mayfield Heights Police Department

A small plane crashed on a middle school football field in Ohio on Tuesday, injuring all three of the plane’s occupants.

On Tuesday, the Mayfield Heights Police Department shared a statement onFacebooknoting that it received a report of a small plane crash at 11:05 a.m. “on the football field at Mayfield Middle School.”

“Police and Fire arrived on scene and found all three of the plane’s occupants outside of the airplane,” police wrote. “All three were transported to Hillcrest Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. It appears the single engine plane was attempting an emergency landing prior to the crash. At this time, it’s unknown what caused the plane crash.”

Nobody on the ground was injured in the incident, per the statement.

The three people who were injured were identified as pilot Laurence E. Rohl, 79, pilot-in-training Catherine H. Terez, 27, and 52-year-old passenger Ted R. Rieple III, according to CBS affiliateWOIO-19. The outlet reported they were conducting a training exercise intended to simulate an engine going out when the plane shut off.

A spokesperson for T & G Flying Club, which Rohl is the owner of, told NBC affiliateWKYCthat he"is an excellent pilot" who “has been flying for more than 50 years.”

The Ohio State Highway Patrol told the outlet that the pilots handled what happened like they were supposed to, according to the outlet.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol confirmed with PEOPLE that no students were near the field at the time.

The Mayfield City School District did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment Wednesday.

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Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Ray Santiago told reporters Tuesday that the aircraft will be removed from the field after an investigation is completed in a similar process to motor vehicle crashes.

Santiago wrote that a “mechanical failure” occurred during the training exercise, which caused the engine to lose power.

source: people.com