Successful deadstick landing on a road

bikert

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bikert
Apologies if this has been posted before. Pretty impressive how well this worked out!

 
Nicely done, but what was wrong with the engine? It restarted twice. Was it just out of gas?

John
 
Damn, well done.

Amazing how quickly the rotax just died without any warning signs, unless it was insufficient fuel.
 
Very well done, perhaps I would have stopped trying to restart when he got low, but didn't even scratch the paint, good stuff right there!!
 
Wow.

Would have sucked if he took out the wing on the power pole after he nailed that landing though!
 
I like how he picked his gap between the poles and got down, worrying about getting rid of the speed after. If you are gonna hit a power pole, better to do it on the ground then float into a power line.
 
Glad it worked out well. Interesting how quick the motor can start and stop. My motor never starts that fast warm.
 
I like how he picked his gap between the poles and got down, worrying about getting rid of the speed after. If you are gonna hit a power pole, better to do it on the ground then float into a power line.

Hitting a power pole and a power line successively seems like a poor survival recipe. I'd rather hit it on the ground than float into a power line.
 
Hitting a power pole and a power line successively seems like a poor survival recipe. I'd rather hit it on the ground than float into a power line.

The CAP night engine out that was landed on a PHX city street hit a traffic light pole. Airplane munched but pilot walked away.

She flies for SkyWest now.

Seems like the trick with poles (not wires) is to be on the ground before the pole and slowing, and not take them head on, if you must hit one.

Kinda like anything solid really. Let a wing take the hit and keep it out of the cockpit.
 
Good job. Funny how the opposite lane had a lot of vehicle traffic and his side didn't.
 
Apologies if this has been posted before. Pretty impressive how well this worked out!

Good job - but those guys were very lucky nothing got in their way. The right seater's applause was premature - they were a long way from being stopped at that point.

Dave
 
Hmm, I think my initial reaction may have been to put it down in the water in that scenario. I'm glad it worked out for them though! Good job thinking fast!
 
Hmm, I think my initial reaction may have been to put it down in the water in that scenario. I'm glad it worked out for them though! Good job thinking fast!
I'd have second thoughts about landing in the water. In Florida you are likely to find yourself swimming with alligators. I've never lived there, but I recall the story related by a minister some years ago. He grew up in Florida,
and happened to live on the shore of a lake. He had always been told to stay out of the water - and did so until one day he decided to go for a dip. Soon a gator was headed his way. He almost made it to shore - but the gator
caught one foot. He of course screamed his head off - and his mother came running. She had a tug of war with the gator, with the boy in the middle. The gator was winning - but of course she was screaming her head off, too.
It so happened that a farmer passed by at that moment, heard the screams, and came running with the rifle he carried in his truck. Gator shot, boy saved!

Dave
 
I grew up (and still live) in central Florida. I live a couple of miles from the lake with the largest density of gators in the area (Lake Jessup). I also spent (and spend) a lot of time in and on the water. Gators are not aggressive except in mating season. I wouldn't be worried about gators in the lakes and streams unless you are very small. (Like poodle sized small.) They don't like to mess with anything remotely close to their size. Don't go poke one in the nose. Don't step on one. Don't go swimming in the weeds. You'll be fine.

John
 
I wonder why they coasted so long, is this a taildragger?
I would have been on the brakes to the max to get stopped, minimizing time you could get something.
 
I was just in Florida flew into Orlando and that scenery looked awfully familiar. As I was flying there I thought if something happens I'd put down in one of those lakes. He was lucky he didn't hit a pole or cables landing on that road. Good job though I will definitely give him that.
 
Take a look at the 1:24-1:30 mark. The right seater is messing with the panel and it appears as though he actually key-turns the ignition OFF on the pilot flying on the last sputter without any command or expectation on the part of the PF. Anybody care to comment on that? I'd hope the right seater is the owner, otherwise I'd be throat punching that guy for interfering with my PIC duties. The way things were going down in that cockpit would not go over well with me.
 
I wonder why they coasted so long, is this a taildragger?
I would have been on the brakes to the max to get stopped, minimizing time you could get something.
Definitely not a taildragger.
It's probably far more dangerous to sit out on the open road with dumb drivers nailing your wing than to coast and turnoff the road when able.

This video has been around a few times before, but its always a good reminder of how to handle this situation! :)
 
I'd have second thoughts about landing in the water. In Florida you are likely to find yourself swimming with alligators. I've never lived there, but I recall the story related by a minister some years ago. He grew up in Florida,
and happened to live on the shore of a lake. He had always been told to stay out of the water - and did so until one day he decided to go for a dip. Soon a gator was headed his way. He almost made it to shore - but the gator
caught one foot. He of course screamed his head off - and his mother came running. She had a tug of war with the gator, with the boy in the middle. The gator was winning - but of course she was screaming her head off, too.
It so happened that a farmer passed by at that moment, heard the screams, and came running with the rifle he carried in his truck. Gator shot, boy saved!

Dave

Put me in the 'head for the water' camp on this landing. Don't get me wrong, these guys did a good landing, but there was a LOT that could have gone wrong with trying to pick that road. There was a lot of warm and calm water nearby, and I'd rather lose the plane than my life. Honestly, I think the threat of gators is overblown. In this instance it ranks up there with avoiding landings in the forest due to bears and mountain lions, or fields where rattlesnakes roam. I don't particularly want to mess with a gator, but I think there are times when that concern becomes a lower priority.

Out here we don't have the gators, but have lots of bears, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes. I always take stories about their ferocity with a grain of salt. Large and deadly predators need to be carefully respected, but their legend usually surpasses their reality.
 
Right before the engine cut out the passenger had his hand up in the right wing root. The ELT blocks my vision. What is up there? Fuel selector?
 
Since I don't swim I take the dry road. I'm used to dodging hard stuff and wires. Not so much with water. Plus I have the mental image of the plane flipping on its back and a simple bump on the head knocks me out just long enough to drown in a couple feet of water. No thanks. It's the road for me.
 
I grew up (and still live) in central Florida. I live a couple of miles from the lake with the largest density of gators in the area (Lake Jessup). I also spent (and spend) a lot of time in and on the water. Gators are not aggressive except in mating season. I wouldn't be worried about gators in the lakes and streams unless you are very small. (Like poodle sized small.) They don't like to mess with anything remotely close to their size. Don't go poke one in the nose. Don't step on one. Don't go swimming in the weeds. You'll be fine.

John
The alligators might be a hazard PROVIDED you make it out of the wreckage. Wheeled airplanes usually flip over when landed on water, so drowning is a distinct possibility.

Dave
 
The alligators might be a hazard PROVIDED you make it out of the wreckage. Wheeled airplanes usually flip over when landed on water, so drowning is a distinct possibility.

Dave

I've seen plenty of vids of people hydroplaning on the water and shortening their ground roll. That's what I'll do! (I'm joking of course)
 
Since I don't swim I take the dry road. I'm used to dodging hard stuff and wires. Not so much with water. Plus I have the mental image of the plane flipping on its back and a simple bump on the head knocks me out just long enough to drown in a couple feet of water. No thanks. It's the road for me.
That's my thinking too, even if i survive a crash into water i probably won't survive the water itself. Even though I know how to swim I'm bad at it and have next to zero stamina.
 
Some excellent work shown in that video. Even parked it nicely. They lived, and the plane was undamaged. Win win.
 
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