The pilot had to make a deadstick landing when the engine failed.
deadstick landing
idiomA forced landing without propulsion of an aircraft that normally operates with propulsion.
Origin
disputed originThis term does not come from a reference to an aircraft's stick (“control stick”); rather, the stick in this term is, originally, a wooden propeller that has lost its engine power (from circa World War I). The term was extended to any aircraft (even jets) by an obvious extension of the metaphor. This term also does not involve the same metaphor as stick the landing (which see for more), although in some light aircraft, in some conditions, a highly skilled pilot might potentially stick the landing even if it is a deadstick landing.
After the fuel line ruptured mid-flight, the experienced pilot calmly executed a deadstick landing in a nearby field.
With flames licking the cowling and the propeller seized, Captain Hartley had no choice but to attempt a deadstick landing on the abandoned airstrip below.