V-Tail Bonanza Hits Truck Near Pumpkin Center Lousiana

The crew gets kudos for no injuries to anyone.


From BeechTalk:

We put the K35 down after losing all oil pressure. Smoke in the cockpit was first indication.

We were at 2,000 descending to pattern altitude from 7,500 after passing Baton Rouge.

Looking for a field on the south side of 12 but didn’t see anything worth while, told my dad to put her on the interstate. We lined up behind a semi, neither of us saw the black truck under our right wing.

Touched down and the wing hit their driver side and they, reacting, slammed on the brakes and spun us a bit.

Nose gear collapsed when we hit the median grass….

Median was first idea but they had those wire barriers on each side.

My dads pretty upset as his plane is totaled but we are all okay.

I give full credit to having spent a lot of time riding with guys on here doing formation flying and reading crash talk.

As we saw the fields on the ground, opting for a field with gear up probably would have killed us all. Tree stumps and mud are not so forgiving.
 
Not sure if it was mentioned anywhere above, but a followup on Louisiana Aviator said the oil filter backed out.
 
Not to armchair quarterback but it looked like he passed up a lot of landing areas including what looked like a gravel pit with a wide, long enough to land, access road. But I wasn't there so it was good he put it down with no injuries.
 
When you put down on a interstate you are putting people on the ground at a high risk. A field poses little to no risk to people on the ground.
 
My last annual training, we had the interstate vs field discussion. My concern is that a driver’s instinct is to hit the brakes, so if you surprise someone from behind, they hit the brakes when you need them to speed up.

but glad the pilot got it down without loss of life. Can’t fault a good outcome. Airplanes can be replaced.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Not to armchair quarterback but it looked like he passed up a lot of landing areas including what looked like a gravel pit with a wide, long enough to land, access road. But I wasn't there so it was good he put it down with no injuries.
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But you just did. Perhaps you missed the comments of the pilot rated passenger made after they had inspected areas that had been considered for landing:

As we saw the fields on the ground, opting for a field with gear up probably would have killed us all. Tree stumps and mud are not so forgiving.

Jeff767 said:
When you put down on a interstate you are putting people on the ground at a high risk. A field poses little to no risk to people on the ground.
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Something that was considered, but fortunately rejected. I am always puzzled by those that criticize the actions of a pilot that has successfully effected an emergency off airport landing.
 
3393RP said:
I am always puzzled by those that criticize the actions of a pilot that has successfully effected an emergency off airport landing.
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Well it is Monday so I guess the Monday morning quarterbacks are gonna make their call. I agree with you ... it seems rather strange to question the outcome where no one was killed. Planes are replaceable.
 
3393RP said:
But you just did. Perhaps you missed the comments of the pilot rated passenger made after they had inspected areas that had been considered for landing:
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And perhaps you missed my last sentence. I’m not questioning the pilot. I’m just observing what I see. However, the two videos don’t jive. The first is from someone in a car going the opposite way of the landing with what looks like moderate traffic. The second video is supposedly from the aircraft and there isn’t a car in sight in either direction.
 
Timbeck2 said:
And perhaps you missed my last sentence. I’m not questioning the pilot. I’m just observing what I see. However, the two videos don’t jive. The first is from someone in a car going the opposite way of the landing with what looks like moderate traffic. The second video is supposedly from the aircraft and there isn’t a car in sight in either direction.
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Second video is flight simulator footage with ATC audio superimposed.
 
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