An unusual case occurred on a highway in the state of Texas in the United States when a small plane suddenly seemed to be one of the vehicles moving through the highway corridor.
The pilot informed the control tower of a state aerodrome that he was having problems with his aircraft, and that it was losing more and more altitude, and seeing that he could not reach an air center with electronic aids and specialized attention, He had no choice but to improvise a road and land on it as if it were another landing strip..
Although the landing was violent, as it crashed into a truck carrying mattresses, no one was injured in the risky maneuver.which not only would have cost the life of the intrepid pilot, but could have had victims among the drivers and passengers who were rolling on the Texan highway.
At the moment of the rude landing one of the wings of the aircraft touched one of the concrete barriers of the highway and started a firewhich fortunately did not affect the pilot or other drivers or passengers of the vehicles that were passing through there at that time.
The daring pilot was in charge of informing the air traffic controller that Faced with the impossibility of reaching a traditional landing strip, it would try to land on the roadsomething he achieved in the face of the disbelief of those who witnessed the act.
Once the crash occurred, there was a fuel leak that caused a fire on the road, but the prompt and effective engagement of firefighters from two nearby counties to the road prevented the flames from causing a tragedy.
“Normally when a plane comes into contact with a vehicle it doesn’t end well, the fact that the 18-wheeler is also here, it’s a good day, so the policy and procedure is good, but when a plane loses power, seconds count, so in his mind, the easiest thing to do was to leave it on the road.”said Richard Standifer, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Aircraft landings on highways and roads in the United States, contrary to what may be believed, are not that unusualThis is due to the length and width of many of them, with surfaces in magnificent conditions, created to house a large number of vehicles.
The pilot assured that he is alive by a miracle and feels as if he had been born again, but the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Safety Board announced an exhaustive investigation of the fact.
