PA-28 emergency landing on Mesa AZ freeway

[Rgbeard]

Whoops!

any landing you can walk away from!

https://www.azfamily.com/news/a-pla...cle_28aca14a-b7db-11eb-ba07-0bc4a2b2b3dd.html

 

[MFE]

Looks like he was doing T&G"s until something happened on a takeoff. Very nicely executed landing given only about 500 ft AGL. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N8923J

 

[bflynn]

Here I was all ready to say "good job pilot" and then read "...the plane ran out of gas shortly after leaving the airport... "

Something happened. Sigh

 

[sourdough44]

Now he has some splaining to do at that pilot interview.

Enough fuel is the low hanging fruit of accident prevention. Yes it costs $$$, but is part of flying.

 

[flightwriter]

Per the LiveATC recording, this was on his last planned touch-and-go and his next landing was to be full stop. And sure enough it was...

 

[Jeff Szlauko]

The owner of the plane said "And I just think this was an example of a good pilot who had a problem and took care of it."
However, he also said that the plane ran out of gas. That is an indicator of a very careless pilot, not of a good one!
So yeah, great piloting once the emergency arose, but very poor piloting for creating the emergency in the first place.

 

[sourdough44]

Another reminder to skip the ‘leaseback’.

 

[Daleandee]

Here I was all ready to say "good job pilot" and then read "...the plane ran out of gas shortly after leaving the airport... "

Hummm ... perhaps this is something that they might want to add to the preflight checklist. Oh wait ...

 

[NoHeat]

I'm guessing this won't be very good for the instructor:

"The FAA says the pilot, who has not been identified, had one passenger."

"Jones said a friend who is a flight instructor has been using the plane and was working with a student Tuesday morning."

"the plane ran out of gas"​

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

And landed opposite the traffic.

 

[Pilawt]

And landed opposite the traffic.

There are a lot of wrong-way drivers on AZ freeways.

 

[TrueCourse]

The owner of the plane said "And I just think this was an example of a good pilot who had a problem and took care of it."
However, he also said that the plane ran out of gas. That is an indicator of a very careless pilot, not of a good one!
So yeah, great piloting once the emergency arose, but very poor piloting for creating the emergency in the first place.

This describes many of the incidents and accidents that happen, especially the ones covered in the news. Most non-pilots will think it’s heroic how the pilot avoided something (whether it was skill or luck) but won’t have a clue the mistake that got them there. Pilots thinking the same way? I don’t always understand that.

 

[Tantalum]

Short of WB issues is there any reason people don't always at least fill to tabs? Just seems like an unnecessary risk

 

[GaryM]

Short of WB issues is there any reason people don't always at least fill to tabs? Just seems like an unnecessary risk

I suspect fuel costs at a particular airport are also sometimes a factor. ("Hmmmm. How much of the $7 avgas do I need here to get to that field with the $4 self serve?")