Plane hit by 3 cars after Calif. freeway landing - story with pics

[Kadie]

Plane hit by 3 cars after Calif. freeway landing

Sunday, August 23, 2009
(08-23) 14:10 PDT Santa Barbara, Calif. (AP) --

Authorities say a small airplane was struck by three vehicles just after it made an emergency landing on a California freeway.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says the Piper PA-24 Comanche with two people on board was bound for Santa Barbara Airport Sunday when the pilot told air traffic controllers he had no fuel remaining and landed on the southbound side of U.S. Highway 101, about one mile northeast of the airport.

California Highway Patrol Officer James Richards says three cars were unable to avoid the plane and crashed into it. He says the occupants of the plane and the cars were not injured.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/08/23/national/a131441D42.DTL&tsp=1




Firefighters attend to a small plane that crashed on U.S. Highway 101 about one mile northeast of the Santa Barbara Calif. Airport on Sunday Aug. 23, 2009. The Federal Aviation Administration says the small airplane was struck by a car after making an emergency landing on a Santa Barbara freeway. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the Piper PA-24 was bound for Santa Barbara Airport Sunday when it made an emergency landing on the southbound side of the freeway.
(AP Photo/Kevin Corbett)


Firefighters try to separate a car from a plane on U.S. Highway 101 about one mile northeast of the Santa Barbara Calif. Airport on Sunday Aug. 23, 2009. The Federal Aviation Administration says the small airplane was struck by a car after making an emergency landing on a Santa Barbara freeway. FAA spokesman Ian Gregor says the Piper PA-24 was bound for Santa Barbara Airport Sunday when it made an emergency landing on the southbound side of the freeway.
(AP Photo/Kevin Corbett)

[babylonsister]

1. No one injured? Remarkable. nt

[Lars39]

2. That'd be an interesting conversation with the insurance agent.

[DJ13]

3. Try getting your insurance agent to believe THAT

Glad everyone was okay.

[theHandpuppet]

4. I'd like to know what kind of idiot...

... goes up in an airplane without enough fuel aboard.

[bbinacan]

10. Could you be jumping

to conclusions? Could he have had a leak or a faulty gauge?

[armyowalgreens]

32. There are many reasons why the plane could have evacuated the fuel during flight.

I don't think it's very likely that the man took off without enough fuel.

[tabatha]

5. Here are some blog comments about it:

http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=1215&tid=1394&art=21827

How can a plane run out of fuel? Bad piloting?

[Pangolin2]

22. It happens to airliners too

http://www.airsafe.com/events/noengine.htm

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. Another toy airplane goes down, this time nobody was killed.

[tj2001]

7. They should revoke his license

Idiot could have killed people.

[Posteritatis]

8. Idiot because of an *emergency* landing?

Should he have plowed into a forest or something instead?

[tj2001]

11. "he had no fuel remaining"

and yes, he should have aimed for an empty field instead of a busy freeway.

[tabatha]

12. no nearby empty fields

just homes - should he have crashed into those?

[XemaSab]

18. The beach is right there

:shrug:

[tabatha]

19. Not near Turnpike.

If you need immediate landing, there is a ways to go to get to the beach.

[tabatha]

31. I checked the flight path - and he was flying over land all the way

--- not the normal route taken by commercial airlines over the sea.

[DainBramaged]

37. Land in the sand and do a header?

[armyowalgreens]

33. Would you rather he had landed the plane in a residential neighborhood?

How about a school yard? Or maybe he should have just crashed it into a house.

A large street or freeway is the best option when you absolutely must land immediately.

[2Design]

9. can you imagine explaining that to your insurance company - probably planes

crashing into your car aren't covered - anything not to pay a dime

[miyazaki]

13. probably would have been a great landing, damn cars.

:crazy: :crazy:

[LWolf]

14. Deja Vu.

I saw this once, about 6-7 years ago, on an L.A. freeway. I don't remember which one. I was on my way from the Renaissance Fair at Glen Helen Park to the Greek for a concert. On the other side of the freeway, going the opposite direction I was, sat a small plane with miles of traffic stuck behind it, waiting for everything to be cleared.

I made it through the madness in time for the concert: Tull.

[kestrel91316]

15. Oops. Ran out of fuel? Perhaps needs remedial math?

[yodoobo]

16. Maybe. but there are other reasons.

I know an American Airlines captain who flies the biggest aircraft the airline has who did nearly the same exact thing in a small airplane.

He was flying a small aircraft when the engine sputtered due to lack of duel. He immediately switched to the other tank (he had 2) and worked to restart the engine. During this time the aircraft was gliding down.

He was lined up with a busy freeway, about 50ft above when he engine finally restarted and he was able to return to altitude. Shaken, but safe.

Poor planning? Lack of attention? Not at all. All small planes have a small valve on the bottom to drain fuel to remove water. turns out it the valve was defective and opened during flight, draining all fuel in that tank.

We don't know why he ran out of fuel. Maybe negligence, maybe not.

[Berry Cool]

17. "Lessee...fuel...fuel..."

"...FUEL????????..."

[greennina]

20. Another rich idiot with an unnecessary toy...

endangerous the public. Tell me again why those people are allowed to endanger us with such things?

[Pangolin2]

21. That plane cost about as much as a new pickup truck.

And he probably isn't an idiot.

[armyowalgreens]

36. Well it probably cost more than a pickup truck...

I'd say at least 100K.

[Pangolin2]

40. Well, how about a really nice pickup truck? Here are 3 for less than 50K

http://www.trade-a-plane.com/classified/search?atcode=A&collection=&searchtype=atcode&code=A&sid=b96925abe98ec840caf67eda1cef7e71&webclass=14870J&year_from=&year_to=&min_price=&max_price=&min_totime=&max_totime=&min_engtime=&max_engtime=&state=ALL&country=ALL&keyword1=&kwflag=AND&keyword2=&timelimit=0&tlvalue=2&browse=detail&maxads=100

I only paid 79,500 for my Cessna 310 and it has 2 engines.
:-)

[MineralMan]

23. Endangerous? Spell much?

No such word, greennina. But hey, welcome to DU, anyhow!

[Dr_Willie_Feelgood]

27. Because the world is NOT covered in foam rubber...

...and topped with a child-proof cap?

BTW...that "rich" pilot, statistically, is a lot safer to himself and the public than Johnny PBS driving a Prius or Smartcar down the road.

[MineralMan]

29. Johnny PBS? You don't like PBS?

What's happening here? Who are these people? I'm really confused.

[armyowalgreens]

34. face/palm

[DainBramaged]

38. So you know he isn't just a ferry pilot?

sigh

[MindPilot]

24. Some of you would have been unhappy with the invention of the wheel

"Crudla no like. Firestarter make big danger."

[Pangolin2]

25. "Run over toe, hurt!

:-)

[armyowalgreens]

35. Some of the comments in this thread are hysterical...

Apparently we can only assume that the pilot was an absolute idiot that did not check his fuel and decided to land on a freeway instead a nonexistent better option.

[rufus dog]

26. about 25 years ago a private jet landed on the 10 freeway just short of the PHX airport

Only hit a Pepsi truck, happened just before the 10 PM news so the local stations rushed teams down to cover it. A reporter asks the Pepsi drive if this has ever happened to you before? The look was friggen priceless.

[neverforget]

28. As a student pilot, we practice emergencies a lot. Preferably

there will be no emergency, but in case there is one, the pilot will choose an airport every time. However, if it is not possible to get to it, the pilot will choose whatever is best: a road or an open field. Hopefully, there won't be any wires or fences in the way of the landing.

[petronius]

30. I wonder where he was coming from - if he was flying in from the Central Valley, I can

see how unexpected headwinds might have screwed up his fuel calculations. There aren't a lot of landing options that I can think of northeast of SB. If he was travelling N or S on the coast, however, I can't see any excuse for this outside of a serious mechanical failure. Either way, I imaging the FAA or NTSB (and CHP?) will examine all the possibilities...

[PM Martin]

39. Damn those cars! Always driving on the roads that were meant for aircraft.

:silly: