Overview
- A single-engine propeller aircraft experienced an engine failure about 15 minutes after takeoff and was set down in a harvested maize field east of Weidensees on Wednesday, 23 September 2026.
- The 68-year-old pilot from the Erlangen area was alone in the plane and walked away uninjured with no bystanders reported harmed.
- Passersby who saw the aircraft sink called emergency services, which launched a large fire department alarm that was cancelled when the control centre confirmed the safe, controlled landing.
- The aircraft suffered fuselage and landing-gear damage with material losses estimated at around €50,000.
- The Pegnitz police have informed the Staatsanwaltschaft Bayreuth, the Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung (BFU) and Luftamt Nordbayern, and those bodies will examine maintenance, technical components and flight data to determine the precise cause.