MACEDON, N.Y. -- A single-engine plane that was supposed to land in Rochester made an emergency landing Thursday in a field off of Quaker Road in Macedon, Wayne County.

Jeremiah Coholan said around 1:30 p.m., he and his passenger were coming to the end of a nearly three and a half hour flight from New Bedford, Massachusetts, when his plane’s engine started to sputter from his carburetor icing.

“When I realized that the engine wasn’t coming back and I was basically just idling and running really rough, I issued a mayday to Rochester Approach,” Coholan said. “They asked me if I could make it to a field 10 miles away. I told them, ‘unable,’ and told them I was going to be ditching in a field or road if I could find one.

"I lost the engine about 2,000 feet out from where I touched down. Complete dead stick. I pitched for best glide, 65 knots, found the field, lowered my flaps, came in a little hot with some energy, and luckily stopped the plane before it went in to anybody else's property. I’ve trained for it, but never done it.”

The field Coholan landed in is right behind Ann Pulcini’s home.

“My husband was in the bedroom and saw someone pull into the driveway and walk out behind the garage,” Pulcini said. “So he walked through the living room to look at the living room window and was a little shocked to find out he had a plane in the backyard.”

It’s also a place Coholan never thought he’d have to land in either. 

“I was shaken up,” Coholan said. “I couldn’t believe I did that, but my buddy was pretty happy with it. He couldn’t believe I did that and he gave me a big hug and he was like ‘good job.’”

“I’m just glad that berm was there or he could have taken down the garage, the flag pole, who knows where he would have ended up,” Pulcini said. “It’s crazy.”

Even though Coholan spent the rest of the afternoon talking to the FAA and making fruitless efforts to get the plane back up into the air, he’s still thankful for one thing.

“We’re all alive and we’re all safe so that’s basically all I could say,” Coholan said.

Coholan said he's unsure of how he will get the plane back. He said he had to return Thursday night to Massachusetts, most likely on the ground.