Amazing Airmanship Today in Calgary

Early this morning in Calgary, Alberta, Canada a pilot successfully landed a Piper Navajo with six people aboard on a notoriously busy roadway in the city's northeast quadrant. The only thing that made this possible at all was the fact it was about 5:40 AM. I was driving to work when the radio station announced the breaking news and when they said "a small plane had just emergency landed on 36 street NE just south of 16th avenue" (the TransCanada highway) I really couldn't believe it. I thought the location had to be a mistake as there is no way on earth I would have believed any airplane could ever land on that road. It has multiple pedestrian overpasses as well as a light rail transit line running down its center. It is such a congested area many people including myself avoid it in our cars if possible. Nobody in this city can believe this pilot pulled it off. The airplane came down with multiple witnesses and at least one surveillance video camera capturing footage. The airplane actually clipped a power pole or light standard and maybe a few road signs but came safely to a stop. It is reported that the pilot actually flew under a set of traffic lights before touching down! Other than the cause of this incident "may" be because of running out of fuel the female pilot with about 20 years of experience did an awesome job of safely landing that aircraft today. Very lucky as well. Here are a couple of links to news broadcasts.

 

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/road-reopens-after-plane-makes-emergency-landing-on-36-street-ne-1.3901130

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-plane-land-roadway-1.4634332

Follow-up story tonight.

 

http://calgarysun.com/news/local-news/praise-for-pilot-who-performed-emergency-landing-on-northeast-street/wcm/0f2b7413-0d0a-454d-8b8c-f9829f613166

Been a couple of them in Canada over the past bit. One happened here in Ottawa as well.

How it got only some wing damage and didn't crash into c train station and or other things provides me to think that he missed a lot of chances to completely crash and not survive...some amazing skills to the pilot..

The funny thing is that it flew right over my home. lol. I woke up to a loud sputtering engine sound. I first I though it was a car with a broken muffler, but once it flew over my home (due Northeast) toward the airport, I realized the sound was way too loud for a car. And it was backfiring every few seconds (fuel starvation I think), So the thought came to my mind "this sounds like an airplane" I thought, but then I said "Nah, it can't be, because it is backfiring". But he noise kept on going for almost a minute until it disappeared in the distance (when it landed). I knew something wasn't right. I went downstairs and turned on the TV. About half hour later (this was around 5 am) they show the plane landed right in front of the Jeep dealership where I bought my car. LOL. Excellent pilot, she actually dove in between the electrical wires and light posts. What a Hero! Marco