C-172 Lands in Kananaskis on Hwy 40. Great Job

[BWL]

Lost oil and landed on Hwy 40 in K-Country. Great job on landing on a busy highway.

[Illya Kuryakin]

Any time you put one down unplanned, and it works out.....you did a great job. Well done!
Illya

[Shiny Side Up]

http://globalnews.ca/news/785044/plane- ... s-highway/

[Pop n Fresh]

From the comfort of home after thinking it over for longer than he had to decide. I would go for the field to begin with. Badger holes notwithstanding it looks like a pretty good field.

In the heat of the moment I probably would have done what he did. Sorry about the wings.

Can't blame him for being there. That's where we have been going to catch trout. Beautiful area.

[PilotDAR]

Good job!

Incredibly, both men survived without serious injury.

Yeah, in an entirely undamaged cabin, in a well landed aircraft! Reporters!

[light chop]

Ummm... isn't that posted news link about the forced landing that happened out there last year? Check the date...

The guy yesterday didn't do any damage as far as I know...

[CpnCrunch]

Also that article is about a 182, not a 172. I guess this must be an annual occurrence.

I agree with Pop - fields are generally better than highways, due to the many things you can hit on a highway. Landing in a field will likely be a non-event unless you're unlucky, and you'll probably be able to fly it out once you fix the problem.

[Posthumane]

I was listening to an Air Canada flight relaying their mayday call just after I departed Okotoks yesterday. Glad to hear that everything worked out OK for them.

[Illya Kuryakin]

Also that article is about a 182, not a 172. I guess this must be an annual occurrence.

I agree with Pop - fields are generally better than highways, due to the many things you can hit on a highway. Landing in a field will likely be a non-event unless you're unlucky, and you'll probably be able to fly it out once you fix the problem.

I've only had one dead stick. I used a highway. Fields can be soft, ploughed up, hide gopher holes, and a long list of nasty surprises. Roads are hard, smooth and easy to deal with. I know two guys who chose a field. Worked out just fine for one, the other flipped over and spent almost a year before he could walk again. Thanks, I'll take the highway every time.
Illya

[iflyforpie]

I saw one plane land on the highway after EFATO. Didn't put a scratch on the aircraft.

However, there are at least a half a dozen wire crossings in that 1km stretch of highway. Other than the fact that there was nothing but mountains and swamp as alternatives, I think I'd choose a field if it were available.

But good job to the pilot.

[Shiny Side Up]

Ummm... isn't that posted news link about the forced landing that happened out there last year? Check the date...

My bad, wrong link. Here's the correct one.

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/emergency-lan ... -1.1995935

Also that article is about a 182, not a 172.

Neither is this plane either, looks like a 206 - edit: database says C-FDAM is a rare 205.

I guess this must be an annual occurrence.

Probably. Lots of traffic volume out that way on any given sunny weekend.

I've only had one dead stick. I used a highway. Fields can be soft, ploughed up, hide gopher holes, and a long list of nasty surprises. Roads are hard, smooth and easy to deal with. I know two guys who chose a field. Worked out just fine for one, the other flipped over and spent almost a year before he could walk again. Thanks, I'll take the highway every time.
Illya

Depends on the field, depends on the road. Being a farmer by trade I find it easy to tell apart the better landing spots than most people do. Landed in plenty of fields, landed on a few roads. Could tell lots of stories about both. Both have risks.

[Shiny Side Up]

I saw one plane land on the highway after EFATO. Didn't put a scratch on the aircraft.

However, there are at least a half a dozen wire crossings in that 1km stretch of highway. Other than the fact that there was nothing but mountains and swamp as alternatives, I think I'd choose a field if it were available.

I guess it should be said that since I find most people don't know the difference, most "fields" in the mountains are actually bogs and one would under most circumstances be advised to avoid landing in them. Depends where in the mountains you are I suppose. But that said, when we were out that way on Saturday, I noted a lot of "roads" which might be substantially tougher to put it down on as well - their narrowness, slope and straightness maybe being in question, and I doubt many of the ones frequented in the logging areas could be considered "smooth". In this case, there are a few inviting spots of gravel along the rivers which might be of better consideration. Tough to say. Hopefully one won't be called upon to make the choice.

But good job to the pilot.

Yes, but one might reserve judgement for when one finds out why they ended up there in the first place.

[CFR]

"Witnesses say they saw smoke coming from the plane and the plane in a nosedive."

I must have missed that day in training but how steep a descent is considered a "nosedive"?

[pdw]

Nosedive ? Maybe the grade used for landing is in the uphill direction ?

For example if the intended landing section of that road is sloping slightly uphill by 10 degrees or so, the distressed aircraft appears to be gliding down that much steeper with its full flap application. So it might also appear steeper / like diving on account of an on road witnesses' slightly skewed sense-of-flat, ie someone traveling on the long/straight road at a nominal grade wouldn't always realize their exact grade-reference to level. The illusion can make it look like a larger 35 degree downward descent angle to an onlooker (in their reference) when the true descent angle is actually 30% less than it appears ... around 25 degrees, or i guess even more if this power off glide was headed into stronger component.

[Rookie50]

..

[trey kule]

Looks to me that he did a pretty good job of getting it down safely, despite not having all the expert advice of the computer captains with the leisure to contemplate the myriad options.

As to why the engine failed. Different topic. Or at least it should be, though this thread has drifted into the fantasy what if mode already.

I hope that should I ever experience an engine failure in that environment, the end result will work out as well...

[RatherBeFlying]

Looks like decent fields both sides of the road just South of Hwy 1. I wouldn't want the road sign coming through the windshield.

Farther South on 40 the road will be the only option in a lot of places.

============================

Whoopsie! The photos show the earlier accident near Hwy 1.

I heard the C-205 pilot on CBC this morning. They were over the Kananaskis Lakes at 8000' on their way back from Sparwood when the engine blew a hole through the crankcase (perhaps a counterweight). Hwy 40 was the best makeable option, but the big concern was 2 SB pickups spotted after they were set up to land behind a NB truck. They had to do a turn off after landing and hitting the brakes. All as I remember from groggily listening in bed this morning.

[Redneck_pilot86]

Nosedive ? Maybe the grade used for landing is in the uphill direction ?

For example if the intended landing section of that road is sloping slightly uphill by 10 degrees or so, the distressed aircraft appears to be gliding down that much steeper with its full flap application. So it might also appear steeper / like diving on account of an on road witnesses' slightly skewed sense-of-flat, ie someone traveling on the long/straight road at a nominal grade wouldn't always realize their exact grade-reference to level. The illusion can make it look like a larger 35 degree downward descent angle to an onlooker (in their reference) when the true descent angle is actually 30% less than it appears ... around 25 degrees, or i guess even more if this power off glide was headed into stronger component.

Alternatively, maybe the average human being is just an idiot.

[pelmet]

The privately operated Cessna C-205, C-FDAM, was operating on a pleasure flight out of Springbank, AB (CYBW) to Sparwood, BC (CYSW). C-FDAM was cruising over the western shore of Upper Kananaskis Lake at 8000 ft asl. With no pre-existing conditions the engine (Teledyne Continental IO-470-S) abruptly began running rough and the pilot reduced the throttle to idle. The pilot activated the SPOT personal GPS device, set the transponder code to 7700 and made several mayday calls. C-FDAM made an uneventful forced landing on Highway 40 approximately 36 nm SW of CYBW. The engine remained at idle until it was shut down after landing. There was one pilot on board. No injuries were sustained. The ELT was not activated. The TSB will be advised of the reason for the loss of power.

[pdw]

From the west shore of lake Kananaskis at 8000'/2300'agl(5700'msl elev) is ~ six miles ENE to the landing spot.

Six miles ... 300ft/min to keep a good airspeed is 1800ft (if turning east immediately from there) leaving 500ft to maneuvre with when arriving at the landing location. Not a lot of altitude left to waste there ... actually.