Small plane makes emergency landing in a farm field near Bellingham Airport

A single-engine plane made an emergency landing in a field Monday off Sunset Avenue, north of Bellingham International Airport.

The pilot was the only person on board and was not injured, officials said.

The aircraft, a Cessna 172, was undamaged, Sunil Harman, director of aviation at Bellingham International Airport, told The Bellingham Herald in an email.

The pilot reported that during takeoff, she experienced engine roughness in the climb-out phase and attempted to return to the airport. Unable to do so, she made and emergency landing in the farm field about 9:20 p.m.

The pilot “appears to have conducted a normal touch-and-go training maneuver consisting of landing rolling out and accelerating to take off again and it was during the climb-out for another right-hand pattern loop that the engine roughness was encountered, causing the pilot to attempt a return attempting a downwind landing which was not possible resulting in the emergency landing in the field,” Harman said.

The Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standards District Office is investigating the incident, according to Harman.