Belly landing on freeway (WI)

wow, I was on that section of 94 Sunday night! small world.

question for the pilots, emergency landings of small aircraft on highways isn't that uncommon, so what's the protocol? do you tell air traffic control and they shut the highway down/alert the state police or do you just land it and hope for the best?

 

Protocol? I don't think he had time to do any of that... there probably almost never is time to stop traffic, etc. - just do it...



Wonder what happened... both props were turning when in "landed"?.

 

I'm not anywhere close to current on my license, but when I did my training, first thing I was taught to do in emergency procedure was look for a place to land. But just because you pick a spot doesn't mean that spot can't change as your emergency changes. In most cases, I'm guessing there isn't enough time to alert authorities AND have them arrive, so probably notify ATC as best you can and just hope for the best.

 

My question also. Most belly landings I recall are landing gear related and didn't have anything else mechanical and can take place at an airport.

 

landing anywhere other than an airport, there was a loss of power or something that prevented further flight

gear up can be an indication of loss of hydraulic pressure to cycle the gear, even if hydraulic pressure is lost there is a manual system to lower the gear. Some aircraft use compressed air to "blow" the gear down if normal system fails. Appaently there was not enough time to manually lower the gear which goes back to engine failure causing the flight to be aborted

gear up landings are not necessarily hard on the airframe... usually the plane is raised, the gear lowered, then towed to the shop. Engines take most of the abuse starting with the props striking ground etc. The hull usually just requires to be reskinned after a bit of straightening. Gear up landings hit the insurance and check book the hardest, otherwise not a big deal.

 

Jumpers are having a sad.

It's 44 years old. That plane is probably all done.

 

The runway threshold it literally feet from the highway. Back in the '80s I flew into that airport once and you come in right over the tops of traffic on I94.

 

Yeah, I'm watching this one closely. The reports so far have been odd. News this morning said the pilot had some unspecified mechanical problems, overshot the runway, and ended up on the highway. Certainly wouldn't be the first time the news was flat out wrong so I'm eager to see what is determined to be the cause.


Mark

 

Jump airplanes aren't known for their maintenance... or for high standards of operation, for that matter.

 

That is an impressive looking plane - even in this situation.
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It's not the first time that airplane has been in that situation... this year!

http://iwww.airliners.net/photo/Skydive-Midwest/Beech-B90-King/2124521/&sid=f3b9ebf24ef731fa5688b890e58f4f33

 

Both props were spinning... engine failure????

 

spinning ? is meaningless...the engine is either making power or not

in the news photo the stb engine has 1 blade that appears near normal... engine was not making power

the second photo of the port engine, all the blades are bent...an indication the engine was making power at the time of the prop strike

the engines are PT-6, the prop does not have a direct / positive connection with the power section... the props can free wheel or spin just from the air flow across the prop

how does one over shoot the runway with wheels up ? In landing mode the wheels are down, unless they were not put down in error...one possibility... in landing flair the props hit, tried go around, too much prop / engine damage, landed straight ahead... there seems to be a lot of BS that doesn't add up... need to wait for final anaysis

 

Wow... could have been much worse.

Jedi

 

This landing episode ensured that.

 

The reports I've seen don't add up, it's really odd. Loss of power usually means up undershoot the runway, not go long. And, as you noted, gear should have been down.


Mark

 

One possibility is the pilot purposely came in very high because of lost power before getting on his final approach.
Then, when he discovered there was no way he could slip the plane down enough to make the runway, he kept the gear up anticipating the eventual landing past the end of the runway.

Just a theory. Plus, a King Air has to descend like a brick once it loses power.

 

Do I see the flaps down in that photo showing the starboard side?