Landing on an Interstate

Skip Miller said:
Agreed, but how about this guy? Landed on Interstate 95. In New York City. And, for style points, on the George Washington Bridge. :hairraise:

Aeronca Champ, on December 26, 1965. One wing was kissed by a truck and the plane was spun on a vertical axis, and nosed in from there. But pilot and passenger survived!


Even Sully couldn't do this!!!

-Skip
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Pfft. I'd be impressed if he could do that in Boston.
 
Hank S said:
Although I must admit, posters on POA know all there is to know about everything, certainly more than the official biographers and historians making notes at the time.
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Just because some random unknown source on the Internet puts the myth in writing, that doesn't make it true.

How about finding a tad more official source for us?

Like this one.
 
bullwinkle said:
I'd probably come in steeply with a bit of speed to minimize wire hazard, then let it float and land when ready.
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You may be overlooking that it is a real power-off landing. A windmilling prop and a touch of flaps will kill the float you'd normally get practicing it with an idling engine. If you have the altitude and time to stop the prop you probably don't need to land on the interstate but YMMV.
 
Dennis McKim said:
Two pages, and no one has yet mentioned the (false) urban legend that the Interstate system was *designed* to be used as military runways in times of national emergency. It usually includes references to "facts" such as a requirement for one mile of straight roadway for every 10 miles of travel.
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FWIW, many European countries did just that, create sections of hwy infrastructure to allow emergency (or military) landings on hwys.
Said highway segments do not have a median (they are paved between the opposite direction lanes) and have removable barriers.
The military used to perform training exercises by shutting down the hwy but eventually the motorists got so mad that they stopped exercising regularly. :)
 
Skip Miller said:
Agreed, but how about this guy? Landed on Interstate 95. In New York City. And, for style points, on the George Washington Bridge. :hairraise:

Aeronca Champ, on December 26, 1965. One wing was kissed by a truck and the plane was spun on a vertical axis, and nosed in from there. But pilot and passenger survived!


Even Sully couldn't do this!!!

-Skip
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I know that guy... He was/is a real aviation personality in the Long Island area. Clogged fuel screen, I think, was the culprit. The guy with him couldn't swim so didn't try for the Hudson... (so he tells it) Broke a lot of bones and still has a scar where the airspeed needle inserted itself in his hand. The passenger walked away with nary a scratch... (again, as he tells it)... He was my instructor in the '70s out of Long Island's MacArthur airport... He now lives with my Ex... (very, very, long story) in a corner house in a nice subdivision... How nice for them...LOL
 
Skip Miller said:
Agreed, but how about this guy? Landed on Interstate 95. In New York City. And, for style points, on the George Washington Bridge. :hairraise:

Aeronca Champ, on December 26, 1965. One wing was kissed by a truck and the plane was spun on a vertical axis, and nosed in from there. But pilot and passenger survived!


Even Sully couldn't do this!!!

-Skip
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Serious style points indeed. wow.
 
azpilot said:
I am talking about this purely from an emergency point of view. If you have an engine failure and the "best" spot to land is a long stretch of interstate, how do you pull it off? How do you squeeze yourself in between the cars? Obviously, you can't just put your blinker on and merge with traffic. Are there any techniques that you should use? Do you just try and find an opening and do your best to "squeeze" in?
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A friend of mine did it 10 years ago, on I-10 west of Phoenix, at night. Didn't put a scratch on the airplane.
 
The DPE for my PPL checkride actually pointed out the interstate below us in WV as a potential emergency landing site, and recommended that I keep track of such places as I flew.
 
Hank S said:
The DPE for my PPL checkride actually pointed out the interstate below us in WV as a potential emergency landing site, and recommended that I keep track of such places as I flew.
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I can understand that in WV, nothing but mountains and valleys. Of course there's always those flat top mountaintops after the coal companies get done doing their thing! :wink2::D
 
azpilot said:
I If you have an engine failure and the "best" spot to land is a long stretch of interstate, how do you pull it off?

...

Are there any techniques that you should use?
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Two points of view:

1. For me, the technique is to get at least 500' AGL, pull the red handle, pull the red knob, fold arms on lap, pull feet toward seat. If time allows before landing, push the ELT button located by the circuit breakers. After landing, evacuate and make a phone call. If the landing spot is near a road, that's nice, but not mandatory. No reason it should be near an interstate.

2. For the retired state trooper who founded my aero club, the technique is to choose a county road and land between intersections. Not at an intersection, because that is where power lines are likely to cross a county road. He did this regularly, in the state patrol's Super Cub, for lunch at a rural diner.
 
LDJones said:
I was flying with a friend's Dad in his Cherokee 180 about 35 years ago when we got caught in a snow squall. Put it down on I-94 near Medina, ND. Just carefully taxied up the first exit ramp (short wings helped) and waited out the storm. Highway Patrol arrived, stopped traffic so we could take off again. Helpful guys!
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3 years ago a ferry pilot landed a taylorcraft in a snow squall a couple of miles east on I94. Same thing pulled it up on a exit ramp and had patrol stop traffic for takeoff the next morning.
 
NoHeat said:
2. For the retired state trooper who founded my aero club, the technique is to choose a county road and land between intersections. Not at an intersection, because that is where power lines are likely to cross a county road. He did this regularly, in the state patrol's Super Cub, for lunch at a rural diner.
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He'd be dead around here. Mid-span wire crossings are more common than at intersections, so as to get electricity to the ranch or house right at that location on the road. If they jumped at intersections they'd have to have poles on both sides of the road in most rural areas.

In fact, I can't think of a rural area where this isn't true, that the wires cross where the houses and barns are located. Not at intersections.

So I'd say his advice is pretty questionable at best. Or maybe utter BS, judging by looking up at them every day during my rural commute.
 
Around here I think the interstates are too crowded for a landing most of the time. *Maybe* it would work out on the far eastern plains, but putting a plane down along Colorado's Front Range on an interstate could be… difficult.

This photo was taken on the south end of Denver (C-470 and I-25 for those who know this town) during a time of day when traffic was light. There might be some opportunities to land in there, but I'm still thinking that a field might be a better choice (okay, maybe not in THIS case — in this case I think we were in the pattern at KAPA… but normally it would have been a better choice)

12321297_537369910373_1246085893958561540_n.jpg
 
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Most planes that we fly can maintain lift at 55 MPH, which just happens to be the lower speed limit on most interstates. All you really need is enough room to merge into traffic, assuming it's not slowed to a crawl. Trust me, the guy you merge in front of will more than likely put on the brakes so he won't hit you from the rear. The guy in front probably won't notice you in the rear mirror until you've slowed down considerably. When he does, there's a good chance that he'll slam on the brakes but hopefully not until he's quite a ways down the road. So, all you really need to do is find an opening in traffic that's about the size of a tractor trailer. Fly a bit faster than traffic, get your wheels just about windshield height and slow down in ground effect, merge when you're slower than the guy ahead of you and put her down.

Easy!!
 
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Anymouse said:
Most planes that we fly can maintain lift at 55 MPH, which just happens to be the lower speed limit on most interstates. All you really need is enough room to merge into traffic, assuming it's not slowed to a crawl. Trust me, the guy you merge in front of will more than likely put on the brakes so he won't hit you from the rear. The guy in front probably won't notice you in the rear mirror until you've slowed down considerably. When he does, there's a good chance that he'll slam on the brakes but hopefully not until he's quite a ways down the road. So, all you really need to do is find an opening in traffic that's about the size of a tractor trailer. Fly a bit faster than traffic, get your wheels just about windshield height and slow down in ground effect, merge when you're slower than the guy ahead of you and put her down.

Easy!!
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I've considered that exact method as the "ideal" way of making an interstate landing. Around here traffic is often stop-and-go, which really concerns me. But, if I was flying out by Limon, Colorado, or some other spot on the eastern plains, it would probably be a lot easier to consider the landing you just spoke of.

From a potential engine failure perspective I find the city flying to be the most concerning. When we do a sightseeing flight around Denver I can't help but notice how few spots are available for landing (at least compared to flying in the rural areas).
 
Coloradokevin said:
Around here I think the interstates are too crowded for a landing most of the time. *Maybe* it would work out on the far eastern plains, but putting a plane down along Colorado's Front Range on an interstate could be… difficult.



This photo was taken on the south end of Denver (C-470 and I-25 for those who know this town) during a time of day when traffic was light. There might be some opportunities to land in there, but I'm still thinking that a field might be a better choice (okay, maybe not in THIS case — in this case I think we were in the pattern at KAPA… but normally it would have been a better choice)



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Definitely APA pattern. You're on a right crosswind for 17R or left base for 35L between the "power lines" and Lincoln Ave. :)
 
denverpilot said:
Definitely APA pattern. You're on a right crosswind for 17R or left base for 35L between the "power lines" and Lincoln Ave. :)
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Lol. Thanks for spotting for me! KAPA isn't my home field for airplane flying, though I am only a few miles away at KBJC. I used to spend a lot of time at KAPA when I was a crew member on a helicopter there a few years ago, but never paid much attention to the fixed wing traffic pattern. Anyway, we were on the left base for 35L in that photo… because I know we were doing laps off of that runway during this particular flight.
 
denverpilot said:
I've always wanted to report "over the big blue Swedish box" for a midfield downwind west of I-25 when they request that. Just hasn't happened yet. Haha.
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There are lots of IKEAs around. They really stand out and make for nice landmarks.

I've reported over the meatball shop (left 45 for 31) at Palo Alto.
 
denverpilot said:
I've always wanted to report "over the big blue Swedish box" for a midfield downwind west of I-25 when they request that. Just hasn't happened yet. Haha.
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Even better... do it in the Swedish Chef accent...

The_Swedish_Chef.jpg
 
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retpd2001 said:
I just attended a AOPA safety seminar where they were talking about this. The presenter was very adamant on landing in the median. Not sure I would always agree with that, but that was their position.
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With the cable systems they put in to prevent head on collisions, that would be pretty dangerous.
 
That's why I love living in the biggest state (I mean Texas, or course, Alaska can go suck it with their non-continental status :D ).
Lots of open spaces around here, farms, fields, plenty of flatland to set her down.
But I would still be looking for a major road to set her down next to. Easier to see from the road that "there's a plane crashing" and easier access for an ambulance should I flip her or hit a cow or something big.

However, an Interstate is VERY tempting at night.
 
This is how it's done! :D

 
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I ran into a guy a month or so ago who was interested in buying my plane. He had an engine out situation over the bay in a Cherokee D model back in 2013 and opted to NOT land on the causeway crowded with traffic and instead put it down in the bay.

Obviously he walked away from it, but the airplane was a total loss (didn't have insurance). AOPA did an article on it, link here. Had to look it up after I met with him as it sounded like an interesting call. Nice guy though.
 
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