Monday, July 25, 2011

Van's Aircraft RV-6: Emergency runway: Bowling Green pilot lands experimental plane on Natcher Parkway.

Joe Imel/Daily News
A plane belonging to Joseph B. Floyd of Bowling Green is transported Sunday down the William H. Natcher Parkway to the Morgantown Road exit. It made an emergency landing Sunday on the Natcher Parkway in Ohio County. Floyd built the two-seat, RV-6 plane in his garage.

Joe Imel/Daily News 
A Bowling Green pilot, Joseph B. Floyd, of 670 Covington Ave., made an emergency landing Sunday afternoon on the William H. Natcher Parkway in Ohio County. Floyd, built the two-seat, RV-6 plane in his garage. The plane was pulled onto a flatbed truck and transported to Bowling Green. According to Wikipedia, the RV-6 is a two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt airplanes sold in kit form by Van's Aircraft. It was first flown in 1985. Over 2400 kits have been completed and flown.

Joe Imel/Daily News
A Bowling Green pilot, Joseph B. Floyd, of 670 Covington Ave., made an emergency landing Sunday afternoon on the William H. Natcher Parkway in Ohio County. Floyd, built the two-seat, RV-6 plane in his garage. The plane was pulled onto a flatbed truck and transported to Bowling Green. According to Wikipedia, the RV-6 is a two-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt airplanes sold in kit form by Van's Aircraft. It was first flown in 1985. Over 2400 kits have been completed and flown.


A plane belonging to a Bowling Green man landed on the southbound lanes of the William H. Natcher Parkway on Sunday morning after losing power at 7,000 feet.

The plane, registered to Joseph B. Floyd of Bowling Green, landed about a mile south of the interchange with the Western Kentucky Parkway, according to Ohio County Sheriff David Thompson.

Floyd’s RV-6 kit aircraft is categorized as an amateur-built experimental plane.

Thompson said Floyd and his 6-year-old grandson were headed to Wisconsin when the engine stalled.

Thompson said Floyd tried to get the plane to the airport in Hartford, but when he realized he couldn’t make it, he decided the next best option was to try to land on the Natcher Parkway.

According to Thompson, Floyd was afraid he was going to hit a car in the northbound lane, but was able to avoid it before eventually crossing through the median and coming to a stop in the southbound lane. The highway was closed for about two hours.

There were no injuries.

“He did a great job in keeping him and his passenger very safe on the road,” Thompson said.

Thompson added that both Floyd and his grandson were both “very calm” following the landing.

“They’re very fortunate and very lucky that no one was injured.”

According to previous reports by the Daily News, Floyd finished building the plane in 2005. He built the plane in the one-car garage of his Covington Street home.

Floyd said at the time the plane cost him $48,000 to build and would fly at 175 mph.

Floyd could not be reached this morning for comment.

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