I know we have several Florida pilots onboard...looks like everything will be Ok, but the way she told the story left me chuckling. The pilot picked a perfect spot though, the completed but unopened center lanes of an interstate.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com...-lands-i4-story.html

quote:

small airplane landed in the center of Interstate 4 in Seminole County on Friday afternoon, closing several lanes, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Emergency vehicles responded to the scene near Exit 94. The interstate remained open in both directions, but traffic moved slowly.

The aircraft made an emergency landing on the new eastbound lanes of I-4, which are not yet open to the public, Seminole County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kim Cannaday said.

FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said the pilot told troopers that he had mechanical issues but had previously told witnesses he ran out of gas.
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The aircraft was a Cubcrafters light sport plane and only the pilot was onboard, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said...

Seems to be a lot of that going around lately. Not even an Interstate but all went well. (Just a few days ago)

TIPTON COUNTY - A pilot bound for Millington had to make an emergency landing on Highway 14 near the Tipton County line.

As FOX13 found out, the emergency landing stunned both onlookers and the pilot.

Pilot Jack Feckman was almost at a loss for words after landing his piper single engine plane on Highway 14 after the planes engine locked up.

"I am happy to be alive man," Feckman told FOX13.

Feckman along with a single passenger were flying from Nashville to Millington. They made it about 15 miles shy of Millington.


Tricia Twisdale was standing at a local gas station and watched as the plane sailed down the road.

"I looked up and saw a plane going down and the wheels came out, and it was just riding down the highway like a vehicle, like a car," Twisdale said.

Investigators took pictures and inspected the engine on scene. They told us the pilot made a perfect landing. The plane was towed off like a car. Lonnie Emanus works nearby. He saw it all.

"Man, he is a heck of a pilot no doubt about that today was his lucky day I guess," Emanus said.

The pilot landed the plane around 10:30 Thursday morning. Investigators told us the pilot reported engine trouble just before the emergency landing.

http://amp.fox13memphis.com/to...ty-highway/630418941

He was cited for using the HOV lane...

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
He was cited for using the HOV lane...

Unless he had the requisite number of passengers and had his Sunpass on board.

I have a friend who was in a plane that had to land on an interstate in NJ.

quote:

Emergency vehicles responded to the scene near Exit 94.

That's the Longwood exit. I use that exit when I use I-4 to go northeast (toward Daytona). Airport-wise, it's sort of inside a triangle, maybe a trapezoid, formed by Orlando Executive and Orlando International on the south, Orlando-Sanford on the northeast, and Our Little Airport, Orlando-Apopka, on the northwest.

Being a Light Sport airplane, there's a fair chance that it's based at Our Little Airport. We have a very active EAA chapter, a bunch of Light Sports and home-built Experimentals, and a fairly busy Light Sport school.

There are additional lanes under construction in that area, not yet open to traffic.

Maybe they need to mark the ends of the lanes with a big X

Here it is. The registration "N-number" is on the tail, but I can't make it out.

Funny how those engines give one “trouble” when they run outta dinosaur juice.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Funny how those engines give one “trouble” when they run outta dinosaur juice.

Better to run out of dinosaurs than dynamic fluid.

The interstate system was designed for military aircraft to be able to land and take off on.

Glad shes safe.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
The interstate system was designed for military aircraft to be able to land and take off on.

I have read (don't remember where) that a requirement for interstate highways is that in any (every) contiguous five mile portion, there has to be at least one section, minimum one mile, that is suitable for this purpose.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
The interstate system was designed for military aircraft to be able to land and take off on.

I have read (don't remember where) that a requirement for interstate highways is that in any (every) contiguous five mile portion, there has to be at least one section, minimum one mile, that is suitable for this purpose.

Wikipedia says that is an urban legend.

Wiki link

we had a lear jet land on the taxi way here at Tucson yesterday

interestingly enough, its has the word 'taxiway' painted on it in big white letters and the crew still missed it...

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Wikipedia says that is an urban legend.

Meh. Wikipedia. What do they know?

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
The interstate system was designed for military aircraft to be able to land and take off on.

I have read (don't remember where) that a requirement for interstate highways is that in any (every) contiguous five mile portion, there has to be at least one section, minimum one mile, that is suitable for this purpose.

Well that may be true, find one that isn't jam packed with vehicle traffic all day and night in Florida.....LOL

I have a customer that had to belly land his WW II trainer on a cow field shortly after takeoff in SW FL as the engine split a cylinder and blew all of the oil out and seized. He made it 1/2 mile short of the airport. But plane was rebuilt in less than 6 months and is flying in an air show this weekend. Both pilot and passanger walked away with no injuries.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
we had a lear jet land on the taxi way here at Tucson yesterday

interestingly enough, its has the word 'taxiway' painted on it in big white letters and the crew still missed it...

Landing on the parallel taxiway has become a regular occurrence at PBI (West Palm Beach). We are not going to discuss my involvement in one such incident there. Nor are we going to discuss the landing on runway 10 (Roman Numeral 10) in Georgetown, Bahamas. And about the incident at Nassau, nope, we are not going to discuss that one either.

Glad everyone survived. However a pilot should loose his license if he runs out of gas, there is no excuse-NONE!

quote:

Originally posted by RaiseHal:
Glad everyone survived. However a pilot should loose his license if he runs out of gas, there is no excuse-NONE!

No excuse? Never?

Not sure that I would agree 100% with that statement.

True story here: I was working a contract in Raleigh NC, commuting weekly from my home in the Orlando FL area.

One Sunday evening I was on my way back to Raleigh for the work week. Instrument weather at Raleigh, so an alternate airport was required on the flight plan. All available weather forecast information showed that Florence SC would have more than adequate weather for a legal alternate, and was in easy fuel range. The requirements are: sufficient fuel to fly to primary destination, fly an instrument approach, missed approach procedure, then fly to the alternate airport at normal cruising speed, fly the instrument approach there, and still have 45 minutes of fuel remaining. I had the required fuel on board, and more.

Overflew Florence on my way to Raleigh. It was night, and the glow from the city lights told me that there was some fog. I asked Florence approach control what there weather was. "Zero-zero" was the reply.

"Um... that was NOT in the forecast. What is the closest airport that has legal alternate weather?"

"Wilmington NC, unless they go down, too."

OK, I ran some quick calculations and figured that missing the approach at Raleigh and flying to Wilmington should get me to ILM before I ran out of fuel. No 45 minute reserve. No reserve at all. Here I was, in the air, no way to un-do the takeoff, painted into a corner.

Reduced power to best endurance setting, got to Raleigh thinking "Do NOT screw up on this approach, there is NO spare gas on board."

Flew the approach right down to Decision Height, 200 feet above touchdown, 1/2 mile from the runway, fortunately picked up the lead-in lights (strobes) and a second or two later, the approach lights, through the fog. Landed fine, and gave thanks that I did not have to stretch the fuel to try to make it to Wilmington.

No excuse for running out of fuel? 99% of the time, correct. However, there are times when the weather does not obey the forecasts and things can get pretty tight. Over fifty years of flying, and I have had adrenaline surges maybe once every ten years or so, all of them weather-related except for one mechanical out over the Atlantic on a return flight from the Bahama Out Islands.

ok, whattabout Georgetown and Nassau

there's something afoot