U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., made an emergency landing Friday in a private field near Ennis, Montana, after the aircraft he was piloting experienced an engine failure. The local sheriff’s office said the privately operated airplane, which has yet to be publicly identified, had two people on board when it landed in Madison County, and both occupants exited safely with no injuries reported.
— Mike Berg (@MikeKBerg) April 10, 2026
According to Sheehy chief of staff Mike Berg, the senator was conducting “a routine flight training exercise which he completes twice a year” when “the aircraft experienced a mechanical engine failure.”
Berg said Sheehy and the other pilot made an emergency landing in a field and that neither pilot was injured.
According to his Senate website, Sheehy is a commercial pilot and CFI. Before becoming a senator, Sheehy also founded Bridger Aerospace and flew for over a decade as a carded Air Attack and Water Bomber pilot across the American West.
According to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, first responders secured the area quickly and contained a minor fuel leak. The office added that there was no ongoing risk to public safety.
Looks like it was an L-39 jet. If so, pretty good job doing a forced landing off-field without injuries.
Did that twice in the distant past, in a Cessna 210 in 1987 and in a Cessna 172 in 1985. Think and do!!! It works. As long as an open area somewhere below!! Gas leaking out of an off field landed aircraft is usually a problem. My 210 had gas leaking from the vent; which was the front and center concern on the ground. But first responders where their in less than 15 minutes and sprayed everything down; and no more gas ignition threat. Thank goodness for old dirt roads nearly everywhere! Being on the look out for power lines is at least as important as getting on the ground; over or under power lines is doable; and through old fences in the 172!!! At US 40 on the north side of Tonopah, NV, airport. Just making the airport permitter. Where the smooth ground is!! The mechanic on the field could not find anything wrong and asked why he was looking at the 172? Had to show him the broken fence and the wheel marks on the ground. And then flew home. When you
are young, you can do nearly anything. Only possible explanation; carb ice, which melted within 15 minutes on the ground in August. Carb ice sneaks up on person! Regrettably!