Lessons an SIUC student learned in flight training helped her stay calm Sunday when she was forced to land a plane on partial engine power.

The plane landed safely at Southern Illinois Airport. Three SIUC students in the plane were on a return trip home from Chicago’s Midway Airport.

Anitra Martina, a junior in aviation management and flight, was piloting the Cessna 172 Skyhawk when at 9:45 p.m., the engine lost partial power. The plane was traveling near Du Quoin off of U.S. Route 51.

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The plane did not regain full engine power.

Sean Peirick, a senior in aviation management from Orland Park, was sitting in the right flight seat, while Martina was the pilot in command. Gary Willis, a friend of Martina’s and junior in information systems technology from Deerfield, was in the back.

Martina said her training in the SIUC aviation program prepared her to deal with such an occurrence. She began flying in spring 1996, received her private license in June 1996 and has 205 hours of flight experience.

When I touched the ground I was so happy, she said. We made the right decision in the plane. I don’t know what is wrong with the aircraft. The instructors said we did the right thing.

And even after the experience Sunday, Martina woke up Monday to go to a flight lesson at 7 a.m.

It was a great experience, she said. It is not going to deter me at all (from flying). The aviation field is a great field to be in.

Southern Illinois Airport authorities are trying to determine why the plane experienced partial engine failure.

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Martina said that when she landed at Southern Illinois Airport, someone took off the engine covering, but that as of Monday, she did not know if any one had looked at the engine internally.

The Southern Illinois Airport authority could not comment about the incident as of press time Monday.

Martina said that when winds are severe, as they were Sunday night, a carburetor failure is possible. Winds reached gusts of 14 to 18 mph around 10 p.m. Sunday night.

The carburetor is a butterfly valve that lets in air and fuel, she said. Ice can form and clog the carburetor, which could have been the possible cause.

Martina said that she was anticipating losing all engine power.

We were looking for a field to land in, she said. We were at 2,500 feet and were able to get to 3,500 feet. With the power reduction, we thought we would call to tell them we were having problems.

The gain in altitude allowed Martina to land the plane at Southern Illinois Airport, located west of Carbondale on Route 13. Martina said that with the extreme winds, total engine failure could have caused a fatal crash. She said she did not want to land the plane in a corn field because it would mean total devastation.

I had not really (experienced this), not with the aircraft possibly failing, Martina said. I was quite confident, which shocked me.

The plane was rented from Southern Air Service, which is based at Southern Illinois Airport. Martina would not comment about whether she would rent again from the service.

No one from Southern Air Service was available for comment.