“You see? That’s how it’s done. Now we’re going up again, son, and I want you to try it.”
He merged into the fast lane of the I8. Nice.
No, the video does NOT show the the flight instructor landing the airplane.
Idiot drivers just keep on going, passing the plane, etc.
Luckily, he was flying over some grazing land and was able to land safely about 10 feet from a fence. Needless to say, his checkride got delayed about 10 days but he passed with flying colors!
Okay. The thing that struck me was just how stupid these reporters are. I mean, the pilot didn’t panic nor did the drivers of the cars on the freeway. Nobody lost their cool and as a result everybody walked away.
Not a miracle at all. Every student pilot is taught to make engine out landings. On my first flight test the check pilot turned off the fuel flow to observe my reaction. (I took the plane down to about 20 feet above some open field.)
ML/NJ
Kudos to the FIP (Flight Instructor Pilot) but I would bet that there was at least one change of underwear required post-flight. Landing on such a road is good as it would be minimally obstructed EXCEPT for traffic. Don’t try this during rush hour!
https://www.facebook.com/fox5sandiego/videos/492008041298861/
LOL, nobody stopped. He just merged right into traffic and landed in the fast lane.
After watching the video of the plane landing, the instructor had it all together. He made a FAST descent in that Piper to get under those power lines. In flight school, they always tell you to avoid landing on roads because of power lines. They are often hard to see from above. And, the pilots’ rule is: it’s easy to lose altitude and airspeed, but damn hard to get it back!
Also, there’s a good chance that it ran out of fuel. Fuel gauges/sensors often go bad, and over 90 percent of forced landings are due to running out of fuel. That’s why you are strongly advised to “stick” the fuel tanks with a manual fuel guage so you will know exactly how much fuel is in there before you leave.
We were in the back-up from this incident. When we passed by (after waiting about 10 minutes) the plane had been moved to the exit ramp. It was completely intact and I snapped an IPhone pic. I wouldn’t have taken a picture had there been an accident scene though. Happy ending for the instructor and the pupil.
I hate my daily commute.
The funny thing is this was on the TV show CHIPS thirty years ago.
Why not repair the plane; have CHP block traffic, take off from the freeway and land at Gillespi? Taking the wings off seems unnecessary, to me.
I noticed no stopped but changed lanes so they did not get stuck in the coming traffic jam : )