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.
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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com
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.
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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com