Plane lands on CA freeeway....happy ending

[flydrummer]

It's good to see stories about GA pilots that handle emergencies well:

http://www2.dailynews.com/news/ci_3104508

 

[starchkr]

Soooooooo......help me here, i'm confused...did the plane "stall" or did the engine "stall." Gotta love reporters. Kudos to the pilot though, he did a good job.

 

[QuasarZ]

sweet.. good job!

 

[flydrummer]

Ha yeah, the reporters. On the news last night the guy reporting made it sound as if the flat tire on the nose gear was also part of the cause. Derr...

 

[Alin10123]

Soooooooo......help me here, i'm confused...did the plane "stall" or did the engine "stall." Gotta love reporters. Kudos to the pilot though, he did a good job.

Engine,
The article says that "he lost the engine".

 

[starchkr]

Alin...sorry about that, i should have extended my intent of extreme sarcasm with that report. The reporter says the "plane" stalled, and then later says the engine quit... plane stalling and engine quitting are two completely different things.

i think i need to start putting those little faces in my replies...

 

[Alin10123]

Alin...sorry about that, i should have extended my intent of extreme sarcasm with that report. The reporter says the "plane" stalled, and then later says the engine quit... plane stalling and engine quitting are two completely different things.

i think i need to start putting those little faces in my replies...

oh...
Use the smilies when you are being sarcastic.
:smash:

 

[Phoenix45]

I actually drove past the plane at about 1:30pm. That was a tough spot for him to land at, on a downhill corner. If he made it another 100 yards, it would have been a nice long straightaway to land on. Good job putting her down there. Although I am surprised the motorists let him land so easily.

 

[pilotmiketx]

Happy ending? I never got that kind of service from my CFI.

 

[mattpilot]

I actually drove past the plane at about 1:30pm. That was a tough spot for him to land at, on a downhill corner. If he made it another 100 yards, it would have been a nice long straightaway to land on. Good job putting her down there. Although I am surprised the motorists let him land so easily.

well, what i would do if i were in such a position (pilots pos.), is i'd descend fast over the highway and bleed off my airspeed low over the cars. I would be flying faster than the cars, so those that i'd overshoot will most likely see me, slow down, and make room for me to land as my airspeed approaches landing/stalling speed.

 

[Alin10123]

well, what i would do if i were in such a position (pilots pos.), is i'd descend fast over the highway and bleed off my airspeed low over the cars. I would be flying faster than the cars, so those that i'd overshoot will most likely see me, slow down, and make room for me to land as my airspeed approaches landing/stalling speed.

I guess it really depends on where you are. On CA maybe people are a little smarter when they are on the roadways. But in Georgia... people are really stupid when it comes to driving. So basically if the same thing happened in Georgia, people wouldn't slow down and make way. Instead, they would just sit there going the same speed going "ooooh, aaaaaah look at the airplane". It wouldn't even phase them that something is happening.

 

[flydrummer]

I guess it really depends on where you are. On CA maybe people are a little smarter when they are on the roadways. But in Georgia... people are really stupid when it comes to driving. So basically if the same thing happened in Georgia, people wouldn't slow down and make way. Instead, they would just sit there going the same speed going "ooooh, aaaaaah look at the airplane". It wouldn't even phase them that something is happening.

hahahaha.....smart drivers in California?! Half of them can't read the road signs and if there's a plastic bag on one of our 5 lane freeways it causes a traffic jam.

 

[Alin10123]

hahahaha.....smart drivers in California?! Half of them can't read the road signs and if there's a plastic bag on one of our 5 lane freeways it causes a traffic jam.

Haha, point taken. Oh well...
At least they moved though right? Here in Ga, they would've just kept driving and not even noticed. lol

 

[wildfreightess]

Happy ending? I never got that kind of service from my CFI.

HAHAHAHAHA!!! Maybe that's how CFI's could make more money.

 

[Stifler's Mom]

Happy ending? I never got that kind of service from my CFI.

Happy Ending?

Just make sure you land near a shady looking massage parlor.

 

[ePilot22]

?

Ok, I think I have it!

The plane stalled when they lost the engine because they had been flying for six months.

Wadsworth, 28, of Acton had been flying about six months. He brought the plane low - about 20 feet above the eight-lane freeway that divides a golf course and an open-air strip mall.

Maybe the term "power" should have been used after engine? Or maybe six months is a little to long to be flying the plane.

Everything in the article aside, NICE JOB! Way to FLY THE AIRPLANE!!!

 

[Cardinal]

Bad decision making, IMHO. Roads are for cars, and it's a minor miracle somebody didn't die. All it would've taken is one mom on a cellphone in a Montero and they'd be scraping up little bits of crispy flesh off the freeway with a putty knife. For everybody that thinks landing on a freeway is a good idea, think harder. Many people have died doing this sort of thing, including innocent motorists. You signed up for the risk when you departed in your light single over an inhospitable area, you take the fall when the engine dies. Trees are in fact softer than cars.

 

[ePilot22]

Take What You Can Get!

Bad decision making, IMHO.

Would you have prefered a house? At least he didn't panic and crash and die! He flew the plane and put it down where he could. I don't think my first pick would be the tops of trees.

The bad decision MAY have been made during preflight. Was there enough fuel or oil? Why did the engine loss power? Something he missed?

Suppose everything looked fine during preflight, he did a good job of not hurting himself or anyone else. I won't complain!

 

[Cardinal]

YOU shoulder the risk when YOU go flying, it should not be the general public! How many airshow pilots have risked and sometimes sacrificed their own lives to nurse thier crippled aircraft away from the crowd?

Further: If you abort above V1 for a nuisance item and nobody dies, that doesn't make it the right course of action. The fact that nobody died in this incident doesn't make the aviator any less stupid and selfish.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001211X11196&key=1
I've flown with this (terrible) pilot. She made a choice, and she lived but another human died. "The pilot exited from the burning airplane receiving serious injuries. The sole occupant of the Mazda did not exit, and received fatal injuries. Both the airplane and the Mazda were destroyed in the resultant fire."

 

[FlyingFisherman]

YOU shoulder the risk when YOU go flying, it should not be the general public! How many airshow pilots have risked and sometimes sacrificed their own lives to nurse thier crippled aircraft away from the crowd?

Further: If you abort above V1 for a nuisance item and nobody dies, that doesn't make it the right course of action. The fact that nobody died in this incident doesn't make the aviator any less stupid and selfish.

As an avid fisherman...I suggest you switch to a carolina rigged soft plastic rather than trolling.

It'll help you when the water is cold this winter when you're swimming after an engine failure because you selflessly decided to land in 40 degree lake rather than the nice open stretch of road going alongside it.

You've never had an engine start throwing oil right out of a return hose on to the exhaust manifold and start smoking like a sonofabitch and for grins coat the windscreen with a new coat of ashless dispersant have you? When it happens...let me know how it worked out.