Friday, December 11, 2020

Cessna 150E, N6166T: Incident occurred December 11, 2020 in Toledo, Ohio

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Cleveland, Ohio 

Aircraft experienced engine issues and made an emergency landing on the turnpike.


Date: 11-DEC-20
Time: 19:20:00Z
Regis#: N6166T
Aircraft Make: CESSNA
Aircraft Model: 150
Event Type: INCIDENT
Highest Injury: NONE
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: NONE
Activity: PERSONAL
Flight Phase: EN ROUTE (ENR)
Operation: 91
City: TOLEDO
State: OHIO



A most unusual vehicle showed up on an Ohio State Highway Patrol’s speed-enforcement laser Friday afternoon.

Exactly how fast the 1964-model Cessna 150 single-engine airplane was going when it made an emergency landing on the Ohio Turnpike just east of Fulton-Lucas Road in Swanton Township may never be known.

But when the plane, piloted by Andrew Hosford of Berrien Springs, Mich., couldn’t quite make it to nearby Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport after an in-flight engine malfunction arose, the unidentified trooper checking traffic speeds in a construction zone was there to assist after it touched down on the toll road instead.

No one was injured and neither the one-seater airplane nor the turnpike were damaged in the 2:03 p.m. incident, which also was called in by several passing motorists, patrol Sgt. Christopher Fitzgerald from the Swanton post said at the scene.

The patrol called the office at Toledo Express, which arranged to have a crew from Grand Aire, an aviation service business at the airport, come out to tow the disabled plane off the turnpike into a former service plaza a short distance from its landing spot. Sergeant Fitzgerald said the pilot had maneuvered his aircraft into a closed lane in the work zone, so the traffic disruption was minimal.

The plane’s impromptu runway also was within sight of the Swanton patrol post’s turnpike entrance.

At an undetermined future time but probably during the weekend, the sergeant said, the plane will be towed back out onto the turnpike — with the protection of a “rolling roadblock” of highway patrol cruisers — and taken east to a suitable egress point from which it can then be towed to the airport. The former service plaza’s only off-turnpike access, he explained, is to a dead-end local road whose bridge over the turnpike is too narrow for the plane to be towed across it.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been notified and will be investigating the incident, Sergeant Fitzgerald said.

Highway patrol Lt. Williams Bowers, commander of the nearby Toledo post who assisted at the scene, said the highway landing was the first of its kind with which he’d been involved during a 21-year patrol career.

“I’ve heard of it [happening elsewhere], but I never thought I’d see it,” he said.

Adam Greenslade, the turnpike’s government-affairs and communications director, said he was not aware of any prior aircraft landings during the turnpike’s 65-year history.

“That doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened,” he cautioned before remarking that Allan Johnson, the turnpike’s executive director from 1970 to 1996, had recently recorded a toll-road history video and surely would have mentioned such an event had it occurred.

Mr. Greenslade joked that while the small aircraft probably would qualify for the turnpike’s passenger-car toll rate because of its wheel configuration and low profile, its wingspan would necessitate a special permit.

“It’s not over-height, but it’s definitely over-width,” he said before commenting that the incident had generated quite a bit of mirth at turnpike headquarters.

“It could have certainly been a lot worse situation. Thankfully, with a lot of luck, some skill, and a bunch of trained professionals doing their jobs, we can have some fun with it,” Mr. Greenslade said.



   


SWANTON, Ohio — A small, single-engine airplane landed on the Ohio Turnpike Friday afternoon, members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

The incident occurred sometime around 2:30 p.m. just east of the Swanton post near the Fulton-Lucas Co. Rd. overpass. 

No injuries were reported and no damage was done to the plane. The plane was piloted by Darryl Hosford of Berrien Springs, Michigan. The cause is unknown at this time as to what caused the pilot to land on the turnpike.

Troopers said there was no impact on traffic.



TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - A pilot needed to make an emergency stop while flying in northwest Ohio, and decided to touchdown on the Ohio Turnpike in the vicinity of Swanton Friday afternoon.

The landing was mostly without incident, though officials are asking drivers to use caution while the plane is cleared.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol shared images of the situation on social media, saying that there were no injuries to the pilot or anyone on the ground.

2 comments:

  1. exhausted after 4h 30m !
    Date Departure Arrival Aircraft Duration
    11-Dec 09:28AM C20 Last seen at 01:58PM EST near Toledo 4h 30m

    ReplyDelete
  2. Plane?, Pilot?, or fuel! Luckily a FORTUNATE outcome...but was this preventable?

    ReplyDelete