Successful Highway Landing

...and now, the fun really begins.
 
Hitchhiker: Hey buddy, you got some ethanol-free gas handy?

Motorist: Is that your airplane I almost ran over?!?

Hitchhiker: I gotta get home before my wife finds out!
 
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Damned lucky not to hit or get hit by cars, traffic is still pretty dense out at Covington.
 
Hey, it's possible there was some type of leak that was not noticed, but yea, he most likely did not plan properly or monitor the fuel gauges (in case there was a leak).
 
Somedudeintn said:
Hey, it's possible there was some type of leak that was not noticed, but yea, he most likely did not plan properly or monitor the fuel gauges (in case there was a leak).
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Only leak was the one coming out of his arse for being a moron!
 
FBO where I instructed had a nice PA28, Warrior I think. Some moron rents it, flys it at night forever (seems like range was 5+ hours) until he ran out of fuel, and crashed somewhere in a field or woods. Can't recall as this happen in the mid 80s but he totaled the plane. At night. Idiot.
 
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midcap said:
watch the video, there is a guy putting fuel into the tank.:eek:
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Well watching the video, there is also a cop car behind the plane, so we assume he landed because the police wanted him to pull over for speeding

Also watching that video, I would assume the landing occurred in another country, based on that bearded highway workers struggle with the English language, obviously English must be a second language for him, one which he is still working on.
 
James331 said:
Well watching the video, there is also a cop car behind the plane, so we assume he landed because the police wanted him to pull over for speeding

Also watching that video, I would assume the landing occurred in another country, based on that bearded highway workers struggle with the English language, obviously English must be a second language for him, one which he is still working on.
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I thought it was funny...seeing the plane being refueled on the side of the interstate.
 
hmmmm... lot of arm chair quarterbacking today.

I ran a tank dry once. It only ran 1.2 hours and should have been 2 hours worth of flying time. Turned out the bladder had folded itself over and was not taking full fuel.

And nobody pulled the bladder to see if it was folded over, it was easier for the director of maintenance to blame me for the problem. Until a month later when someone else ran the same tank dry but was unable to get a restart. He landed on a river bank. Then the DM had to investigate why the tank would only run for 1.2 hours on a full tank. I still think of that DM as a total moron.

Of course I just switched tanks and kept on flying to my destination that was a total of 1.5 hours.

This guy could have had something similar happen, but that is total speculation.

Anyone else notice the guy sitting on the wing to fuel it? I would think the arm chair quarterbacks would be all over that
 
Zeldman said:
hmmmm... lot of arm chair quarterbacking today.

I ran a tank dry once. It only ran 1.2 hours and should have been 2 hours worth of flying time. Turned out the bladder had folded itself over and was not taking full fuel.

And nobody pulled the bladder to see if it was folded over, it was easier for the director of maintenance to blame me for the problem. Until a month later when someone else ran the same tank dry but was unable to get a restart. He landed on a river bank. Then the DM had to investigate why the tank would only run for 1.2 hours on a full tank. I still think of that DM as a total moron.

Of course I just switched tanks and kept on flying to my destination that was a total of 1.5 hours.

This guy could have had something similar happen, but that is total speculation.

Anyone else notice the guy sitting on the wing to fuel it? I would think the arm chair quarterbacks would be all over that
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Wouldn't the inability to load on the fuel burnt on the flight previous, have been a hint something was wrong? Just curious how that wasn't noticed.

Wouldn't that be at least 10 gallons "off" or so in most aircraft?

"There's no way we only burnt X on the last flight..."
 
@denverpilot -- I agree to an extent that the fuel loading may have been an symptom to explore.

With the clubs I've been in I've always paid dry tach time. It was a bit of a game "guess the fill" with the fuel truck guy. I'm in the habit of comparing the fuel fill to what I thought I should have burned.

However, renting WET? I don't see the fuel tickets on those. AND there are many more users, AND I have less direct experience with the plane. Therefore, if it's "at the tabs", "at the holes", or I stick it and it says x gallons I need to rely on that.

Nothing uses fuel weight for the measurement. If a bladder folded it would not fill but the volumetric sensing would not know that the cavity was constricted. Think of a ziploc bag, folded and held. It would seem "full" until it unfolded. But in the wing it's hard to see those folds.
 
Just wondering if the pilot ,may not have done a preflight?
 
rolivi said:
However, renting WET? I don't see the fuel tickets on those. AND there are many more users, AND I have less direct experience with the plane. Therefore, if it's "at the tabs", "at the holes", or I stick it and it says x gallons I need to rely on that.
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Sounds like the rental place needs an aircraft flight book. Been a long time since I've rented, but all the places I ever rented from had a book in the aircraft where fuel loads, oil quantity and additions, squawks, etc... We're always with the aircraft. It would have been pretty easy to see that someone flew say, three hours, and only put two hours worth of fuel in. But you would have to calculate it for multiple flights before a refuel.

Not saying it would always be caught, but in the scenario provided above -- it would have been easy to grab the book to either use to show the DM he was wrong about blaming the pilot for excess fuel burn, or just beat him over the head with it if he wouldn't listen that something was wrong with the aircraft.

The joys of renting and/or fleet ops: You're still PIC and still accepting the airplane as ready for flight... Here's hoping the last guy or gal didn't just accept that the fuel they had put in didn't match what they flew off, and noted it in the book, maybe with a question mark next to it... Instead of just enjoying their good luck.

Part of it is, with a wet rental, it isn't tied to your wallet, so you don't care as much or notice, perhaps. An owner/operator is going to notice that the credit card wasn't charged as much as expected. ("That seems over $100 less than I would have expected that flight to run... What's going on here?")
 
I've rented from many places and have never seen fuel levels in the book. Engine and Tach times for start and finish, and oil in the remarks.
 
denverpilot said:
Wouldn't the inability to load on the fuel burnt on the flight previous, have been a hint something was wrong? Just curious how that wasn't noticed.
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Just maybe the ramp worker(s) were not the sharpest tool(s) in the shed?
 
Skip Miller said:
Just maybe the ramp worker(s) were not the sharpest tool in the shed?
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Not sure how that matters. Unless you're like @SixPapaCharlie and have them check your oil. ;)

I've never had a ramp not tell me how much fuel they put on board after a fueling, either by handing me a receipt on the spot or handing me one later.
 
This is a plane I have used often for flight instruction. It is now sitting on the ramp at KCVC which is just a few miles from the interstate. For the life of me I don't see how they could have taxied it from the interstate to the airport ramp. There's a fence around the whole airport perimeter that's higher than a 172 wing, and there's no gate wide enough. If they flew it off the interstate, I think the FAA won't be happy. I took a look at the dent in the wing today. It's too big for that plane to be considered airworthy. It's a pretty well maintained plane. Pilot just screwed up.
 
Lance F said:
This is a plane I have used often for flight instruction. It is now sitting on the ramp at KCVC which is just a few miles from the interstate. For the life of me I don't see how they could have taxied it from the interstate to the airport ramp. There's a fence around the whole airport perimeter that's higher than a 172 wing, and there's no gate wide enough. If they flew it off the interstate, I think the FAA won't be happy. I took a look at the dent in the wing today. It's too big for that plane to be considered airworthy. It's a pretty well maintained plane. Pilot just screwed up.
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Maybe they had a mechanic remove and then reinstall the wings.
 
Dad took off from MVI with full fuel in his 182, enroute to F05. he had more than enough fuel to make the trip.
Ran outta gas, and had to land at a closed (big X's on runway) airport. Found out that the gas cap was faulty, and siphoned out all the fuel.
His White and red airplane was blue.
 
Well, according to the news they said a student was flying it. Whomever was flying it should take this experience as a second chance, not many pilots get that chance!
 
FloridaPilot said:
Well, according to the news they said a student was flying it. Whomever was flying it should take this experience as a second chance, not many pilots get that chance!
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Yes, if he/she was still a student (not certified), then flying at night alone would be another issue.
 
What's all that stuff on top of the wings in the video? Hard to tell for sure, but looks like it's either lots of dirt or fuel all over the wing by the gas caps.
 
What the he'll was that news report about? They were acting like the pilot should be charged with a crime. They pestered the owner at home and repeated phone calls.
What the hell do they think is going yo come out of this story? He ran out of fuel, he made a great landing, no one got hurt, no animals were harmed. Repeat the facts and get on with your crappy news program.
 
It was not a student. He totally ignored the VFR minimum fuel reserve regulations for night flight. In exiting the interstate after his landing he hit one post close to the tip on the right wing. There's significant damage. Have no idea when it might be available for flight training again. They did taxi it all the way from the interstate to the airport ramp. Apparently there is a construction gate on the airport that was wide enough.
 
Lance F said:
It was not a student. He totally ignored the VFR minimum fuel reserve regulations for night flight. In exiting the interstate after his landing he hit one post close to the tip on the right wing. There's significant damage. Have no idea when it might be available for flight training again. They did taxi it all the way from the interstate to the airport ramp. Apparently there is a construction gate on the airport that was wide enough.
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57091963.jpg
 
Wowie... bad enough that is was owner performed maintenance.... but he WAS an A&P had an extra case of oil sitting there and then looked at the stick and thought "That's some clean oil"?
 
I really love this statement:

The NTSB determined the probable cause as the pilot’s inadequate maintenance and preflight of the airplane, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to oil starvation.
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They are only blaming the pilot half of the dude. :D:D:D
 
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