Piper Arrow loses engine on T.O., pilot safely lands it on interstate shoulder w/o parachute.

[Bob_Belville]

http://www.wral.com/small-plane-makes-emergency-landing-on-i-540-in-raleigh-pilot-unhurt/15606584/

[1964-M20E]

Good shows it can be done w/o parachute.

 

No Monday morning quarterback but I wonder why he ran off the highway?  Maybe avoiding a car or something.

[Hank]

Good for him! Sitting on the wing, waiting for people to arrive. Classy!

Loss of oil pressure would not be good. Apparently he shut down the engine, only one prop blade has a slight bend in it. The plane looks like it will fly again, if it's not damaged while being "removed" and transported back to RDU.

[Bob_Belville]

Just now, 1964-M20E said:

Good shows it can be done w/o parachute.

 

No Monday morning quarterback but I wonder why he ran off the highway?  Maybe avoiding a car or something.

I think he intentionally landed in the grass. That's a busy interstate. It would be a shame to make a smooth landing and get run over by an eighteen wheeler.

[Oldguy]

Good job on putting it down safely!

And if the insurance company owns it, the pilot is perfectly fine and able to buy another plane.

[NotarPilot]

Great job. And without the parachute he had some say in where the plane went. Glad the pilot is ok. 

[peevee]

Not much space to park a plane. Really nice job.

As a side note, I always liked the arrow. It's slow, handles like a truck, but I could always fly the crap out of the arrow.

[ArtVandelay]

1 hour ago, peevee said:

Not much space to park a plane. Really nice job.

As a side note, I always liked the arrow. It's slow, handles like a truck, but I could always fly the crap out of the arrow.

Don't forget it sinks like rock on power offs...pertinent to this case.

[peevee]

1 hour ago, teejayevans said:

Don't forget it sinks like rock on power offs...pertinent to this case.

haha yes, yes it does. Let it get just a little slow and you can really see some sink on final, I used to enjoy that.

[kerry]

Surprisingly it looks to be in great shape.  I don't even see any damage to the propeller.  It looks like you could put it on its wheels and take off again. 

[Urs_Wildermuth]

Depends on the insurance value. Most planes these days are write offs even after small incidents like gear ups. This one will need a new engine, new prop plus a lot of sheet work (did he land gear up or did the gear break off?)

As the insurance company probably owns it, he can really focus on looking around for another plane. Also worth noticing: the plane had recent maintenance. So it will be interesting what the reason was.

[Hank]

57 minutes ago, kerry said:

Surprisingly it looks to be in great shape.  I don't even see any damage to the propeller.  It looks like you could put it on its wheels and take off again. 

The bottom blade looks bent to me. He has a 3-blade. 

[midlifeflyer]

On March 29, 2016 at 1:20 PM, Bob_Belville said:

I think he intentionally landed in the grass. That's a busy interstate. It would be a shame to make a smooth landing and get run over by an eighteen wheeler.

The story and his later interview indicates he landed on the road. Motorists who saw him come in slowed down to make room. 

Which is interesting in terms of the "parachute" comment in the thread title. Having seen videos of parachute Cirrus dropping down, I wonder whether a chute pilot would have been as lucky as one doing a landing while moving forward at about the same forward sped as the traffic.

[jetdriven]

What I don't get is if he went through the risk of landing on a road, which is usually in great part to avoid damage to the aircraft, why not go ahead and put the gear down?

[LANCECASPER]

Maybe he was extra sharp that day and remembered that if the gear just wouldn't come down that the insurance company pays for the engine tear diwn and prop  

[midlifeflyer]

On March 30, 2016 at 7:16 PM, jetdriven said:

What I don't get is if he went through the risk of landing on a road, which is usually in great part to avoid damage to the aircraft, why not go ahead and put the gear down?

In his post accident news interview, he talks about landing on a road as being a good choice he was taught based on the concept that motorists will see him coming down and make room, which is apparently what happened.

Part of that is the idea than a minimum sink will give motorists more time to react. Whether this was a conscious decision or not, I guess it's plausible to be thinking landing without the drag of gear will allow a slower sink and give motorists more time to react.

btw, the interview is here http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/15607884

 

[Guest]

Landing on a highway is risky, there are light posts, utility wires and bridges crossing everywhere not to mention cars.  It would be a tough call.

Clarence