By lex, on April 6th, 2010
Australian Defence Force Academy Officer Cadet Patrick Humphries (age 18) may not be the first person to land a stricken aircraft on a roadway after the engine gave out. But he is the first – at least to my knowledge – to do so while successfully flying under a highway overpass:*
“I considered several football fields and had a look at a couple of roads but quickly ruled them out because of the cars on them,” he told the Hobart Mercury.
“When I looked at the Brooker, I noticed that there were no cars on the highway as they were stopped at the traffic lights.”
Officer Cadet Humphries maneuvered the aircraft beneath an overpass before his right wing hit a concrete road divider. The aircraft then clipped a tree and spun before coming to rest on an embankment.
Unhurt, but concerned at the risk of causing a car accident, Officer Cadet Humphries ran down the road and signalled cars to slow down, redirecting traffic until police arrived on the scene.
Well done, young man.
Don’t get cocky.
* 09-29-2018 Link Gone; no replacements found – Ed.
