Parks College student Nicholas Millette came face to face with every pilot’s greatest fear when flying a single-engine aircraft: in-flight engine failure.

The sophomore pilot and his companion, Ryan Smith, who sat in the co pilots seat of the aircraft, experienced a total loss of power due to a reason still unknown.

The aircraft was safely landed in a field near the Meramec River in Jefferson County. Millette and Smith were uninjured in the emergency landing.

“That was the scariest thing I have ever seen in my whole life ” Smith says as he recalls the sight of a stationary propeller from the cockpit. Millette, 20, and Smith, 21, both aviation science students at Parks College, were flying a 1947 Stenson Voyager owned by Millette’s uncle.

The two pilots departed Parks-St. Louis Downtown Airport Saturday afternoon to get gas at St. Charles and have dinner at Sikeston, which is about 100 miles southeast of St. Louis. The engine problems occurred while flying to Sikeston.

“Maintenance was all up to date,” says Millette. “All summer in New Hampshire where I live the Voyager flew great.”

Ryan helped preflight the aircraft before departure. “The plane was in good shape,” he said.

The first signs of trouble occurred about 20 minutes after departing St. Charles for Sikeston.

“The engine started vibrating really, really badly,” says Millette. “It was horrible.”

“You could tell the vibration was coming from the engine,” said Smith. ” We started to turn back to St. Louis, but I said to Nick, `There is no way we can make it to Parks [airport].'”

The engine had not shut off completely. Millette and Smith began to go through an emergency checklist to try to solve the Franklin Engine’s performance problems, but there was no improvement.

The two pilots spotted a field in the distance where they could land, but then the engine failed completely.

“That was the worst part,” said Millette. “And I knew we couldn’t make the first field. There was a really small field to our left, and that’s were we landed, just barely clearing a bunch of trees.”

The Voyager landed safely in a soybean field. The soybeans, which were knee high according to the pilots, helped soften the landing and slow the aircraft down.

“I just sat there for a while,” said Millette.

“I jumped outside and lit up a cigarette,” said Smith.

After the incident, Millette and Smith got a ride back to Parks. They left a note on the windshield of the aircraft saying, “Engine problems. Will be back.”

Ryan Stackpoole, another aviation student at Parks College, later saw the sight of the incident with Millette.

“He landed it perfectly,” said Stackpoole.

At this point, the FAA is investigating the incident, and the reason the engine failed is still in question. Millette and Smith inspected the engine after landing and found a cracked cylinder.

The Franklin Engine is a six-cylinder power plant that propels the aircraft. Cracked cylinder heads, which are rare, have led to engine failures.

The faculty at Parks College is pleased with the skill of both Millette and Smith. “They certainly deserve a pat on the back,” said Bruce Hoover, the Flight Training Director.

Jeanne Watkins, the office supervisor, attributes some success to the ” excellence in flight instruction.”

Mike Land, Millette’s instructor, realized the importance of engine-out procedures.

“It’s ironic that this happened,” said Land. “We just started his commercial training, and in the past two or three flights, we emphasized engine-failure procedures. He did really well, too.”

Millette and Land practiced engine-out procedures only a few hours before Millette joined Smith for what was supposed to be a calm afternoon of flying.

“Now my mom won’t fly with me until I fly a plane with more than one engine,” said Smith.