I'm supposed to be in Teeterboro, NJ after a 4 1/2 hour flight from Atlanta. I'm not. I'm sitting in a hotel room in Glen Allen, VA. I was at 9,000' beautiful VMC day about 5 pm, 162 kts over the ground all instuments PERFECT. And the engine stopped. Total disbelief and denial, but I did go to work, I think in this order: boost pump on, switch tanks, started trimming for best glide (90 to 100 kts), push the PTT and declared an emergency with Potomic Approach, look on the GPS for what's closest. Hanover County KOFP was closest, maybe 20 away. I told Approach that's where I was headed and started some other trouble shooting. Every imaginable mixture position and throttle position, tried L then R mag. Still nothing but a windmilling engine. The controller acknowledged my plan, but mentioned a private strip a couple miles behind me. That was a sure thing and KOFP may not have been possible (I'll never know for sure). The controller very patiently kept giving me vectors and turns because I couldn't see the strip (3900' and paved), although I should have been right on top of it. Altimeter kept unwinding and the temptation to slow it below best glide was very strong. The controller tried to give me my own frequency but I couldn't get anyone on it. Went back to the original one and continued to pretty much block his frequency. He got in a couple calls to other aircraft, but mainly he took care of me.
I finally found the strip which was hard to see because it was well shaded with trees running along the west side and the sun was sinking. Orbited a couple of times, dropped the gear and made an uneventful landing. I called for a relay back to Approach to tell them I was safely down.
This turned out to be a private strip, owned by a rock quarry company that uses it for their King Air. There was nothing around so I called 911. Eventually a maintenance man from the company who had been called out to unlock the gates, two local police cars and a state police car came. Took down my info. The state trooper kept saying how glad he was I hadn't landed on his interstate. I found out from him that the local FSDO wants to come see the plane (not sure about why that is?)
The maintenance guy brought me to the hotel. I've called the FBO at the closest real airport and their maintenance opens at 8 am tomorrow. I hope they make house calls.
I'm still a bit hyper about this, and writing this down has been a help.
By the way I called Potomic Approach and was able to talk to the controller who helped me. I thanked him profusely. He said it worked like it was supposed to work. These guys are great.
And also, I am a religious person and I'm very grateful that God likes to fly in small airplanes.
I finally found the strip which was hard to see because it was well shaded with trees running along the west side and the sun was sinking. Orbited a couple of times, dropped the gear and made an uneventful landing. I called for a relay back to Approach to tell them I was safely down.
This turned out to be a private strip, owned by a rock quarry company that uses it for their King Air. There was nothing around so I called 911. Eventually a maintenance man from the company who had been called out to unlock the gates, two local police cars and a state police car came. Took down my info. The state trooper kept saying how glad he was I hadn't landed on his interstate. I found out from him that the local FSDO wants to come see the plane (not sure about why that is?)
The maintenance guy brought me to the hotel. I've called the FBO at the closest real airport and their maintenance opens at 8 am tomorrow. I hope they make house calls.
I'm still a bit hyper about this, and writing this down has been a help.
By the way I called Potomic Approach and was able to talk to the controller who helped me. I thanked him profusely. He said it worked like it was supposed to work. These guys are great.
And also, I am a religious person and I'm very grateful that God likes to fly in small airplanes.
