Ferry pilot loses engine in Cherokee, lands safely in field

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MFE

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Small plane makes emergency landing in northern Arizona after reported engine failure

The Federal Aviation Administration says a Piper PA-28, a small single-engine aircraft, landed after reports of engine issues.
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FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) — An investigation is underway after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a field west of Flagstaff Wednesday morning.

Coconino County sheriff’s deputies responded to a field near I-40 and Buffalo Range Road, between Flagstaff and Winslow, around 10:45 a.m. after a pilot called 911 to report that she just made an emergency landing. It took deputies about 40 minutes to reach the area where the plane landed, which was about 250 yards north of the interstate.

The NTSB is investigating after a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a...

The NTSB is investigating after a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a field east of Flagstaff late Wednesday morning.(Coconino County Sheriff's Office)
The pilot reportedly told deputies that she was flying from Flagstaff to Dallas, then Michigan, to deliver the plane to its new owner when she heard a loud pop. When oil started spraying the front windshield, she was concerned about losing visibility and decided to land in the first open field she saw.

She landed safely and was not hurt.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane involved was a Piper PA-28, a small single-engine aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
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What's a Challenger and what is that grill for?
 
Seems like the pilot had a problem losing oil. Looks like a nice off airport landing.
If one wanted to armchair QB more, you could ask what was the condition before flight? Level of airworthiness. After that if there were any early indications of the oil or engine problems.


I’m not criticizing the pilot in any way, just thinking out loud.
 
Maintained aircraft control. Made a well-reasoned decision based on the available information. Executed a forced landing without getting anyone hurt or further damaging the plane. I don't think it gets much better than this.

The perils of flying as a ferry pilot in aircraft of uncertain maintenance, I suppose!
 
Mikey52 said:
What's a Challenger and what is that grill for?
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Challenger is a 1973 PA-28-180. The following year the name was changed to Archer. It has the Hershey bar wing of the earlier 180's but the stretched cabin of the Archer II,III/Warrior.
The grill is an outlet for cooling air that is forced through the cylinders from the inlets around the spinner. It's normally painted the same color as the cowling, so less noticeable.
I own one.
 
Hang 4 said:
Challenger is a 1973 PA-28-180. The following year the name was changed to Archer. It has the Hershey bar wing of the earlier 180's but the stretched cabin of the Archer II,III/Warrior.
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Sounds like the best of both worlds.
 
An investigation is underway after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing in a field west of Flagstaff Wednesday morning.
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Coconino County sheriff’s deputies responded to a field near I-40 and Buffalo Range Road, between Flagstaff and Winslow,
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Winslow is east of Flagstaff, but I digress...
 
At least she had a good reason to land. The ferry pilot who took my Hatz to its new owner had to put it down in a field when he ran out of gas! He should have paid more attention to the power setting and fuel consumption figures I gave him...
 
Mikey52 said:
What's a Challenger and what is that grill for?
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For a year or two, 1973-74ish, Piper called the PA28-180 the Challenger and the PA28-235 the Pathfinder. Still straight "Hershey Bar" wings IIRC. I'm sure if @Pilawt were still with us he'd be able to tell us the exact differences and probably the serial numbers they changed on! A search might reveal his wisdom elsewhere on PoA.

Rene said:
View attachment 139187
You aren't suggesting that reporters in the great state of Arizona are unaware of geography are you?
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:rofl:

You aren't suggesting that they employ reporters from the area any more, are you?
In fact... You aren't suggesting that they employ actual human reporters at all, are you?

 
Hang 4 said:
Challenger is a 1973 PA-28-180. The following year the name was changed to Archer. It has the Hershey bar wing of the earlier 180's but the stretched cabin of the Archer II,III/Warrior.
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flyingcheesehead said:
For a year or two, 1973-74ish, Piper called the PA28-180 the Challenger and the PA28-235 the Pathfinder. Still straight "Hershey Bar" wings IIRC.
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The '73 Challenger wing has the same shape and airfoil as the prior-year PA28s, but with 1-foot extensions at the wingtips, giving them a wingspan of 32' vs. the 30' wingspan of prior years. You can see where the extension is riveted on, here:
1742496405776.png
 
tlglenn said:
Is there a flatbed Ford available to haul that plane?
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Last fall, I had arranged to give away an item via Craigslist. A pickup time was arranged.

I was outside working on the house when a vehicle drove by, slowed, and the driver eyeballed me while also looking for the house number.

It was in fact "A girl my Lord, in a flat bed Ford, slowin' down to take a look at me."

I was grinning the rest of the afternoon.
 
Nice job. Saved a plane, but most importantly walked away from it.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
For a year or two, 1973-74ish, Piper called the PA28-180 the Challenger and the PA28-235 the Pathfinder. Still straight "Hershey Bar" wings IIRC. I'm sure if @Pilawt were still with us he'd be able to tell us the exact differences and probably the serial numbers they changed on! A search might reveal his wisdom elsewhere on PoA.
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I believe the 73 235 was called "charger". Chrysler wasn't happy with the name's so they changed it up for the 74 model years. Archer and Pathfinder.
 
GoFly said:
Nice job. Saved a plane, but most importantly walked away from it.
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I hope the client sees things that way. I agree. Just... I suspect there's going to be a lot of scrutiny on the pilot for a bit.

...there but by the grace of flying spaghetti monster go I... :oops:
 
Racerx said:
I believe the 73 235 was called "charger". Chrysler wasn't happy with the name's so they changed it up for the 74 model years. Archer and Pathfinder.
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I went and found what I could from our departed Piper expert @Pilawt:

Pilawt said:
Nope. No difference in the front seat area. The door is a little wider on the '73 and later models ('72 and later Arrows). That helps a wee bit in entry-exit ease, but that's it.

BTW, the early stretch-cabin models still had Hershey-bar wings -- '72 to '76 Arrow II; '73-'75 Challenger/Archer (180 hp); and '73-'77 Charger/Pathfinder (235 hp).
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Pilawt said:
The PA-28-180 was "Cherokee Challenger" and the PA-28-235 was "Cherokee Charger" for just the 1973 model year. My understanding is that Chrysler Corporation had wadded panties about the not-so-coincidental use of the names of its two big-selling muscle cars, so for 1974 the airplanes were "Cherokee Archer" and "Cherokee Pathfinder", respectively.
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Why is the FAA investigating if there was no damage and no injuries?
 
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