A New Mexico man who made an emergency landing at the Waterloo airport back in 2018 has been sentenced for flying without a pilot’s license, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. 44 year old Keith Thomas of Portales, New Mexico accompanied another man on a flight to Wisconsin so the other man could purchase a Cessna airplane. Thomas agreed to fly the original aircraft back to New Mexico afterward. Thomas experienced engine failure over Iowa however and made an emergency landing at the Waterloo airport without establishing radio communication with the aviation company whose airstrip he landed on. The plane was found to be out of inspection compliance and the landing gear was not operational. Thomas has now been sentenced to two years of probation and fined $5,000.
