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Looks like a good result (Small Plane Makes Emergency Landing on California Street)

Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow

I was wondering how much he will be fined and if he will keep his license. In Switzerland it is illegal to try to land on a street because it threatens other people’s lives and they will prosecute you if you do so (even with no injuries or damages). Talking about possible landing sites at night my FI said: “I am landing on the highway because I can see it and if I survive, they can prosecute me and we’ll see what happens.”

LSZH, LSZF, Switzerland

In Switzerland it is illegal to try to land on a street because it threatens other people’s lives

That’s outrageous…

I can certainly see getting prosecuted for doing it as a result of having run out of fuel (for example) but that’s a different scenario.

I recall one head of CAA licensing, a few years ago at a seminar, saying he would like to see every fuel exhaustion forced landing case resulting in the pilot’s license being withdrawn.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Think about the other side – your kids are driving in a car on the highway and suddenly without a warning a TB20 hits it from the back/top, flying faster than they are driving. You won’t be happy I am sure. I can see both sides of the argument.

LSZH, LSZF, Switzerland

Is there a precedent where someone was prosecuted in an actual emergency for trying to land on a street? If not, I would say it depends on how the judge sees the circumstances. If there are no other options, I don’t see how one can ask you to kill yourself to not possibly endanger someone else. That would be like prosecuting you for endangering people on the street when you jump out of a burning building.

Landing on a street would usually be my last choice, but ruling it out beforehand is a bad idea IMHO. I am with your instructor there.

If you land on a motorway, you usually come in faster than the cars – let’s say about 150 km/h in many planes. They will be able to see you and brake. This has been proven multiple times, with traffic being described as “dense”. For example (sorry, all news are in French only):
http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2013/09/02/1699948-atterrissage-miraculeux-rocade-albi-chance-etait.html
http://www.midilibre.fr/2014/10/25/ain-un-avion-de-tourisme-atterrit-d-urgence-sur-l-autoroute-a-404,1071344.php
http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2006/11/13/56806-l-avion-se-pose-sur-l-autoroute.html

If you land on a busy dual-lane country road, things would have to be judged differently (and it would actually be safer to land in almost any other terrain).

If it were my only option, I would do it. I certainly had not heard of possible prosecutions in the event you hit something on the road/highway. I can understand the logic, make a decision, attempt to land, hit something, or somebody, where there are casualties on ground. Is it deemed an accident?

There have been a number recently, in fact there have been a lot of crashes in 2015, certainly appears that an unusual number have landed on roads, or houses…

Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow

While I can certainly see both sides of the argument it was probably the only thung he could do, and he did great. Open Google Earth / Irving, CA. and you will see that it was probably his only option. Crashing on a residential building would probably not have many advantages …

Belgian authorities knew how to avoid the issue: all our roads, motorways included, are lined with lamp posts over their full length.

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

In the USA, you don’t need to obey the glide clear rule. It’s perfectly acceptable to land on roads if you have to. Indeed, Europeans should learn to copy the American model: it’s against our civil liberties not to be able to fly single-engine aircraft over central London, for example:

https://www.euroga.org/forums/flying/1241-glide-clear-rule-se?page=2

How would it be “illegal” to land on a road in an emergency? I’d like to see the text that says that.

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