Iraqi Plane In Highlands Is Training Aircraft, Officials Say

VENUS It's not every day that an airplane identified as part of the Iraqi Air Force makes an emergency landing on a rural central Florida highway - near a town called Venus, no less.

In this case, though, the back story is less sensational than you might think, officials say.

The Cessna 172 Skyhawk that landed Wednesday afternoon was part of the Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales program, said Doug Oliver, a spokesman with Cessna, the aircraft's owner and manufacturer. The U.S. Air Force is buying it with the intention of sending it to Iraq for use as a trainer for the Iraqi Air Force, Oliver said.

Capt. Randy LaBelle of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said the airplane made an emergency landing about 4 p.m. on County Road 731 in remote southern Highlands County.

Oliver said it was heading to the Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport in Miami from an airport in the Tampa area, where it had received a paint job. The plane's new diesel engine cut out during the flight, and the pilot was forced to land.

The pilot, who was not identified, was taken to Sebring Regional Airport, where he was picked up by an airplane, LaBelle said.

No injuries or damage to the plane were reported.

Oliver said the pilot worked for a subcontractor of Cessna, but he would not identify the contractor.

Daryl Mayer, a spokesman for the Air Force's acquisitions division, confirmed that the Cessna was a part of the FMS program. He said the Air Force paid about $340,000 for the plane.

The Skyhawk is a "ubiquitous" trainer, with a design that's changed little in 50 years, said Oliver. "They're all over the place," he said. "We've probably sold 10,000 of them."

An Air Force publication said in October 2007 that 12 Cessna 172 aircraft would be deployed to Kirkuk for work as trainers at the newly created Iraqi Air Force Flying Training School.

Oliver said after the plane was built, it was taken to the Miami airport where a subcontractor put in a diesel engine. It then flew to a Tampa paint shop.

Upon return to Kendall-Tamiami, the Air Force would have inspected the plane. It then would have been broken down and shipped in a container to Iraq.

Officials with the FAA traveled to Highlands County today to look over the plane and check for defects.

By late afternoon, workers were dismantling the aircraft by the side of the road, LaBelle said.

"We've worked plane crashes before but nothing that has started out as a military secret event, then turned into a military contractor testing out a plane," Highlands Sheriff Susan Benton said. "Early on, there was a real scurry."

Oliver said the foreign sales program has been around for a long time and that the circumstances of Wednesday's incident aren't terribly remarkable.

"If the writing said "Canadian Air Force," I don't know if anyone would have noticed," Oliver said.