ARFF Daily News

Tuesday the 5th of November, 2024

Pilot of small plane details scary emergency landing on Highway 85 in South Bay

By Lena Howland and Zach Fuentes 

CUPERTINO, Calif. (KGO) -- No one was injured after a 14-foot plane made an emergency landing on a South Bay freeway Monday morning during rush hour, but it has caused significant traffic delays.

It happened on southbound Highway 85 before De Anza Boulevard just after 7 a.m.

The pilot is OK and walked out without a scratch after being able to land his plane in the opposite direction of traffic.

The landing caused a traffic nightmare for drivers in the Cupertino area, with lane closures ongoing and extending over four hours.

"I started to lose my engine, made a mayday call into the Palo Alto airport, my destination," the pilot Peterson Conway said.

Conway commutes from a farm in Carmel to Palo Alto every other day but on Monday morning, something went terribly wrong.

"I left my farm in Carmel at 6 a.m. this morning, called the airport and asked them to top me off, we don't know what happened, if that did happen or it didn't but clearly I had an engine out," Conway said.

Conway says airport officials originally tried to divert him to San Jose, but he said when things became clear he wasn't going to make that, he aimed for the nearest football fields.

"I then, saw kids out in the football field I was trying to make and I couldn't make that," he said. "Northbound traffic on 85 was back-to-back and nobody would be able to see me coming down on top of them so I opted to land on the southbound lane."

He made that landing just around 7:15 a.m. Monday on Southbound Highway 85 just before De Anza Boulevard.

"I turned on all of my lights, the cars started to separate, there were a couple of high-speed Porsche SUV's heading my way playing chicken and I was rocking my wings to try and get everyone's attention and I had to put it down," Conway said.

Neighbors stood at a nearby overpass for hours watching the process unfold.

"It was a miracle that he didn't hit any oncoming traffic since he landed into oncoming traffic," said Gordon McIver from Palo Alto who was watching.

Though grateful that there were no serious injuries, Conway said he's sorry for the impact on the community.

"I just feel horrible to everybody in their morning commute and all the first responders here," he said.

While the pilot is safe, the miraculous landing disrupted traffic and caused a ripple effect.

Just as ABC7's crew was preparing to interview a CHP spokesperson on scene of the crash, two pick-up trucks slammed into each other, causing one to slide into the closure, scraping a CHP patrol car.

Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, but traffic was reduced even more to just the far left lane open on southbound Highway 85.

Crews worked to remove the wings of the plane first before towing it to the Palo Alto airport.

All southbound lanes of state Highway 85 in Cupertino reopened at about 1:20 p.m.

https://abc7news.com/post/small-plane-lands-highway-85-san-jose-chp-says/15508462/

NTSB Prelim: RANS S12

During The Turn From The Base Leg To The Final Leg Of The Approach, The Airplane Snapped Over And Entered An Aerodynamic Spin

Location: Church Point, LA Accident Number: CEN25FA014
Date & Time: October 15, 2024, 15:14 Local Registration: N912RS
Aircraft: RANS S12 Injuries: 1 Fatal
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Flight test

On October 15, 2024, at 1514 central daylight time, a Rans S12S, N912RS, was involved in an accident near Church Point, Louisiana. The airline transport pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was destroyed. The airplane was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations as a Part 91 maintenance test flight.

The airplane had not flown for about three years before it was purchased by the current owner whose intent was to learn how to fly using the accident airplane. The airplane owner, the pilot, and two other individuals performed maintenance on the airplane during the previous two months in preparation for the test flight that was flown by the pilot. During the test flight, the pilot performed maneuvers that included aerodynamic stalls, steep turns, and glide ratios. The pilot reported via radio that there were no issues with the airplane, and it was outstanding in its flying. The pilot then reported that he was returning to the departure airstrip. The airplane entered a downwind landing followed by a base leg for landing. During the turn from the base leg to the final leg of the approach, the airplane snapped over and entered an aerodynamic spin. The airplane descended while spinning and the engine sound increased and then decreased, which was consistent with an application followed by a reduction of engine power. 

The airplane impacted a field and was destroyed by impact forces. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical malfunction/failure that would have precluded normal airplane operation. The airplane was not equipped nor was it 
required to be equipped with a stall warning system due its experimental categorization.

The wreckage was recovered to a secure location for further examination. 

FMI: www.ntsb.gov

Today in History

30 Years ago today: On 5 November 1994 Servicios Aéreos Amazonicos flight 2079, a Yakovlev Yak-40, overran the runway on landing at Saposoa Airport, Peru, killing 6 occupants; 25 survived the accident.

Date: Saturday 5 November 1994

Time:

Type: Yakovlev Yak-40

Owner/operator: Servicios Aéreos Amazonicos

Registration: OB-1569

MSN: 9141020

Year of manufacture: 1972

Engine model: Ivchenko AI-25

Fatalities: Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 31

Other fatalities: 0

Aircraft damage: Destroyed, written off

Category: Accident

Location: Saposoa Airport (SQU) -   Peru

Phase: Landing

Nature: Passenger - Scheduled

Departure airport: Trujillo Airport (TRU/SPRU)

Destination airport: Saposoa Airport (SQU/SPOA)

Investigating agency: DGAT Peru

Confidence Rating:  Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:

Servicios Aéreos Amazonicos flight 2079, a Yakovlev Yak-40, overran the runway on landing at Saposoa Airport, Peru, killing 6 occupants; 25 survived the accident.

The Yakovlev Yak-40 overran the runway, fell into the bed of the Saposoa River and broke up.

The Yak-40 was new to the fleet of Servicios Aéreos Amazonicos and a Ukrainian instructor pilot was in the cockpit along with a copilot and an observer pilot of the airline.

The aircraft operated on a domestic flight from Trujillo to Saposoa. Weather at the destination was poor due to rain in the area. On final approach the crew lost sight of the runway. The copilot suggest the initiate a go around, but the captain continued the approach at very low altitude. Noticing the treetops, the copilot advanced the throttles to go around, but the captain intervened and retarded the throttles. The aircraft touched down about half way down the runway on the left-hand edge.

The pilot used the thrust reverser and applied the brakes, but these were not effective on the wet runway. The aircraft overran the runway and ended up in the river.

Causes:

Main: Pilot error by not complying with visual flight rules and procedures.

Contributing

- Poor weather in the area of the airport

- Lack of crew coordination by not briefing before landing