…at least, nobody killed, and reportedly only some slightly injured persons. And here’s the video..
Without traffic, or with more luck, Highways in the U.S. really seem to be options for emergency landings. Here in Europe not so.
UdoR wrote:
Here in Europe not so
Where I am flying I’m happy if I find some little bit of relatively flat land that isn’t crowded with 20m tall trees or ice cold water. Somewhat easier in the winter though, but guaranteed a very rough touch down with fixed gear.
…as it had a rather good outcome, I think I can add a hint of sarcasm.
If the pilot would have prepared it just a bit better, like watching this explanatory video on how to really do a highway landing
then he would definitely have had an eye for the details. At least, he did not make the number one mistake to land without gas remaining. “So there may fall things from the sky, could be an asteroid, could be a Bonanza.”
Great video 
As usual, Paul B hits the important points and provides good info.
This one is a bit confusing, for a couple of reasons…
There are open fields around that particular stretch of Highway 5, the little valley south of Via de la Valle is a nature reserve nowadays. Some of the areas are marshy and there are a lot of power lines so not perfect, but better than a busy freeway I wound think. Ironically, the area where they landed was where the freeway was built right through the old Del Mar airport. DC3s etc used to fly passengers to the adjacent race track many years ago. The areas immediately to the left and right of the road in this photo are anyway open land.
The most obvious place to end the flight would have been slightly offshore from the beach, his track northbound put him right there at 1500 ft or so, under the Class B airspace. If I survived after doing what’s shown below, my Private instructor would now (according to his instruction at the time) be tracking me down to kill me.
Less obviously, another location just south is the Torrey Pines Golf Course where a sightseeing Travel Air landed in a similar circumstance a while back with no damage. There are also the polo fields where aircraft fly-ins have been held, about 1300 ft of the smoothest grass possible, although that location was east of track and probably unknown to the pilot. Visible at the upper right in this screen shot, with the eventual landing location also roughy noted.
The freeway in that area is dramatically busy, even at mid-day, and my tendency is to think he could have chosen a better spot. It’s none the less great that nobody was significantly injured and it shows that most engine failures work out well enough if you ‘fly the plane all the way to the ground’. The actual result is arguably better than it would have been with a water landing.
Am I mistaken or is that fuel sloshing out?
That’s a weird choice indeed. I don’t know the area all too well, but landing on I-5 would be my decision of very last resort. This is one of the busiest freeways in the US.
172driver wrote:
don’t know the area all too well, but landing on I-5 would be my decision of very last resort
Probably the place with most cameras
@Snoopy there was even more AVGAS coming out the right wing earlier, when it hit an SUV. It can be seen in the video, too. There was an interview with the family driving that car and she said that the whole car was flooded with fuel (obviously exaggerating a bit). But I am too lazy to recheck for that article, I found it in the comments below the video..
UdoR wrote:
There was an interview with the family driving that car and she said that the whole car was flooded with fuel (obviously exaggerating a bit). But I am too lazy to recheck for that article, I found it in the comments below the video..
Multi million dollar lead poisoning + pts lawsuit incoming. . .
