Hypothetic situation

[hoop]

The presenter said, at one point, that in case of an emergency landing, don't choose a Golf-course. Put it into the trees instead. His logic was that there might be golfers on the fairway, and you don't want to put them into danger.

There was a guy about a year or so ago here in Oklahoma that had an emergency close to PWA. Can't remember if he ran out of fuel, or the engine just quit, but he was over a golf course. Rumor has is that he was going to set it down on a fairway, but saw golfers on the course, and was afraid they wouldn't have heard him. Turns out he opted for the lake that the golf course was on.

I've often thought about that senario, and can't help but wonder what I would have done in his situation.

 

[A Squared]

This reminds me of a FAA safety seminar I attended a few weeks ago, the topic was "Emercency Landings". The presenter said, at one point, that in case of an emergency landing, don't choose a Golf-course. Put it into the trees instead. His logic was that there might be golfers on the fairway, and you don't want to put them into danger. "What?" says I. I got a choice of landing on a few hundred yards of smooth grass or plow into a bunch of trees, and you want me to choose the trees? I think not. This guy was a high-time pro (just like you guys) There was no question in his mind. There is no question in my mind.

Well, being high time is no guarantee of having the right answer. That being said, perhaps it's the right answer for him, perhaps he feels an obligation to accept a higher risk for himself in order to prevent *any* risk to bystanders. That's admirable, if that's his philosophy, but the fact that it's the right answer for that particular individual doesn't make it the right answer for everyone. Taken to extremes, would that individual chose to fly into the side of a building rather than land on a closed air base on the off chance that some kid had found a hole in the fence and was riding his bike on the otherwise servicable runway?

I certainly would chose the fairway, over the trees if it seemed likely that I could do it without hitting anyone.

 

[Waldom]

Regarding the forced landing on a golf course fairway, an acquaintance had that actual experience while flying his J-3 Cub.

He did indeed face the conundrum of players on the fairway. He solved the problem handily by leanining his head outside the already open clamshell door and yelling "FORE!".

The golfers turned toward the sound of his voice to see the Cub gliding over the tee with the prop stopped and headed directly for them. They got the general idea and headed rapidly for the nearest far-away place.

 

[retired guy]

Heres one you boys might want to put in your memory banks...When checking for wind direction, look around and see if there are any cows grazing around the air patch. If any significant wind is blowing, a cow will always put its rear end into the wind. Check it out...I`m not kidding about this.

 

[avbug]

I hate to blow a hole in that theory, but cows stand where ever they want when eating...this summer a herd of cows was located right off the runway, and despite having some significant winds, the cows were never aligned with them. Cows, like horses, will often stand side by side, facing opposite directions, and allow the tail of the other animal to keep flies off their face.

 

[Fearless Tower]

Avbug's right....I've spent some time cowboyin' and I can attest to the fact that it usually takes an additional element such as driving rain to make cows and horses weathervane. If you're relying on livestock to indicate the surface winds, at that point you've got some serious problems!

 

[FlyFlyFly]

Simple answer:

DIVERT... find an open field close by and land. Flag a ride to town and buy a Sharpie. Then get a ride to the airport in question, ask your ride to wait, walk out to the center of the field, lick your finger, interpret the wind direction and write the best runway to use on the BACK OF YOUR RIGHT HAND with the Sharpie (so you can see it while operating the throttle). Then get your ride back the field where you landed, saddle up and fly to the airport (praying the wind didn't change) and VOILA! Land the aircraft.

 

[Fearless Tower]

I vote for overflying the field and popping the chute over the intersecting runways.....you can fill out the NASA form on the way down!