Sen. Inhofe Safe After Forced Landing in Oklahoma

A plane flown by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe ran off the runway after making a forced landing Sunday night in Ketchum, Oklahoma.

The 81-year-old Oklahoma senator, who walked away from the incident unharmed, reportedly made the unscheduled landing in his aerobatic Harmon Rocket taildragger after encountering severe weather. Inhofe was flying in tandem with another local pilot at the time.

Inhofe, an advocate for third-class medical reform and promoter of the legislation that would become the Pilot’s Bill of Rights, told the FAA he veered into the brush to avoid a deer on the runway. The agency is investigating the incident.

According to Inhofe’s website, the congressman has logged more than 11,000 hours. In 2010, he was required by the FAA to undergo remedial training after he landed on a closed runway being repaired by construction workers.