Cedar Rapids pilot makes emergency landing in new plane

CEDAR RAPIDS — Vijay Pisini has been flying for 20 years, and although he is well-trained and practiced in making emergency landings, it’s something he hoped he’d never have to do.

Pisini, 50, is a hobby pilot who works as a flight management system engineer at Collins Aerospace. He made his first real emergency landing in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, after the engine cut out on his new Berkut 540 plane during its maiden voyage.

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Saturday’s flight was Pisini’s first in the plane, which he bought a couple of months ago and had been preparing for flight.

When the engine lost power and Pisini realized he wouldn’t be able to make it back to The Eastern Iowa Airport, he decided to make an emergency landing on C Street SW near Wright Brothers Boulevard. The left wing of the plane caught on a road sign and broke off as Pisini was approaching the road. He ended up landing, unscathed, in the driveway of 9100 C St. SW.

“When an engine quits, it’s not like a car where you can apply the brake and then pull it to the right side. You still have to fly. I’ve been trained for that. I’ve done so many emergency landing practices, so that came in very handy when this event happened,” Pisini said. “Thank God I don’t even have a scratch on my body.”

The exact cause of Berkut’s engine failure still is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, Pisini said.

Pisini has always been interested in planes and flying. Before purchasing the Berkut for $225,000, he owned a Bonanza J35, which he had for six years and sold just last month for $64,000. The Bonanza was a bit larger, with four seats instead of two, but the Berkut is much faster, Pisini said.

“This is a fast airplane. This is by no means for a beginner. This is a fast airplane, so you have to have a lot of experience to fly this, and I do have it,” Pisini said.

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The Berkut airplane, which is classified as an experimental aircraft, was purchased by Pisini from another builder. His previous plane, the Bonanza, was a certified airplane purchased from a factory.

While Pisini does occasionally take his planes out just for fun, he said he most often uses flight as a means of transportation. He has used the Bonanza plane to travel around the country as a born-again Christian street preacher, and has taken his kids on several trips in the plane.

“We went to Yellowstone with friends, and we went to the Rocky Mountains, to Glacier National Park. I went to California, the Grand Canyon area, to the east coast, Washington, D.C., the Dallas area. You name it, we went,” Pisini said.

Pisini won’t be flying himself too far anytime soon, but while he waits to learn what happened with the engine of the Berkut and see about getting it fixed, he’ll continue to fly locally with the Cedar Rapids Civil Air Patrol Squadron.

Pisini, originally from India, has lived in the United States for about the same amount of time he’s been flying — 20 years. He’s called Cedar Rapids his home for several years now, and has become a big part of the flying community in the area.

He works with the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, and is Commander of the Cedar Rapids Civil Air Patrol Squadron. He recently traveled to Indianapolis to help train mission pilots at the National Emergency Services Academy.

Flying has become a way for Pisini to give back to his community, he said. He especially enjoys taking kids out on Young Eagle Flights with the Experimental Aircraft Association, and introducing young people to aviation.

“We do all of these things, giving back to the community. So that’s very important for me,” Pisini said.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com