08 January 2014

A Different Kind of Traffic Jam

Up here in Alaska, we're used to heavy snows, icy roads, blizzards, moose and the occasional bear wandering in our roadways, but this one's kinda new:

Slide show o' photos here


His airplane did not have enough power to stay aloft, said pilot Armon Tabrizi, and he was not immediately sure where he would land. Then, calmly deciding to put it down in the middle of an East Anchorage street Tuesday afternoon, Tabrizi avoided stoplights and cars and descended safely onto a snowy median.

Tabrizi, 27, and his two passengers stepped out of the red-and-white Cessna in the middle of Boniface Parkway a little after 1 p.m., unscathed.

{snip} The Cessna 172RG Cutlass appeared to have damage to its landing gear but was for the most part intact as cars and trucks drove past on each side. {snip} But the Cessna's engine had "significant issues" as it was flying south after taking off from Merrill Field, said Tabrizi, also a flight instructor. Inside the plane, everyone remained calm.
"The engine never quit," Tabrizi said. "But we lost enough power and were unable to maintain flight."

No one hurt, in the plane or on the ground. It was a good day!

8 comments:

ProudHillbilly said...

That's twice in the last couple weeks that I've seen reports of a plane in trouble being skillfully brought down on a road and everybody walking away. Hats off to those cool headed pilots!

Rev. Paul said...

The last major story about a plane crashing after take-off from Merrill Field was a similar model hitting a house near the airport. The resulting fireball burned the house down, and a couple folks died in the crash.

Cathy said...

"Inside the plane, everyone remained calm."

OK. Calm or scared "speechless"?

Rev. Paul said...

I suspect it was calm, Cathy, as they each mentally ran through all the things they could try. The scared part comes after landing, when they realize "wow, that was close!" :)

joated said...

Any landing you can walk away from...yadda, yadda, yadda.

Nice job by the pilot!

Rev. Paul said...

Agreed!

Teresa said...

I love a happy ending! And of course there's a story that will often be told around dinner tables :D

Rev. Paul said...

Yep - should be good for a couple of generations.