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Tail Dragger pilot puts her down safe on the hwy,

Alex Clark

Registered User
Life Long Alaskan
Anchorage pilot brings kit plane down on Seward Highway

The Associated Press

Published: August 28, 2006
Last Modified: August 28, 2006 at 09:00 AM


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An Anchorage pilot and his mother escaped injury when they were forced to make an emergency landing on the Seward Highway near Girdwood.


No one on the ground was hurt, either, in the incident Sunday afternoon.

Kenneth McLeod says he was flying his experimental kit plane near Whittier when the engine began to surge.

McLeod told his mother, Joy McLeod, who was visiting from Kimberley, South Africa, to "buckle up."

"Is it OK?" she asked.

"No, it isn't OK," he said.

Alaska State Troopers said McLeod had planned to land at the Girdwood airport but couldn't make contact with anyone there.

McLeod found a break in traffic on a straight stretch of the highway. He set the plane down about a mile south of the Girdwood turnoff.

Traffic was not interrupted, said trooper Timothy Lewis, who was at the scene.

"It's blue skies, sunshine. There's a lot of people on the highway," Lewis said. "It's amazing that he was able to land without injuring himself or any members of the public."

The driver of a car that was ahead of the plane saw the aircraft and pulled over, McLeod said.

Lewis said McLeod pushed the plane off the road before troopers arrived.

McLeod, who built the kit plane, is an experienced pilot with about 360 hours of flying under his belt. This was his first emergency landing and he thought maybe there was some water in the fuel, he said.

---

Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com
 
Wow! Experienced with a whole 360 hours!

He is a LOT MORE experienced now!

Great work!

sj
 
:Gwoohoo: Wonderful news that he was able to land safely on the hwy. w/out injuring ANYone! It's always good to hear happy endings like that (regardless of the cause)!!!! I like his response to his mother that things were "not okay!" :lol:

Steve, you beat me to the punch about the "experienced" remark. I've been swaggering around thinking I'm "all experienced" ever since I read that! :lol:
 
Actually, the national average for pilots ain't much. I think the flying average is 20 hours a year, which means you factor in those of us who fly 300-400, and those who fly 1500, and you have a lot of folks who fly 1 hour a year or less. I'm going to keep flying while I can!

Of course, a person CAN get a lot of experience in 360 hours if Murphy is riding shotgun all the time...

sj
 
He said he told his mum to buckle up, do many of you yanks fly round without belts on? I would'nt drive or fly without a belt on at all times.
 
Maybe she took off the shoulder harness to take pictures.

OR, he just told her to tighen those straps up before Mr. Toad's wild ride started.

Talking to the press later, all sorts of things come out jumbled.

PLUS the press YAHOOS do lots of jumbling and fabrication on their own.

If all of his hours were in that Plane, he would be a good stick.
Its' hard to argue with success.
 
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